It can take a village to save a sea turtle.
And that’s what happened Aug. 23 in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Sandpiper Resort in Bradenton Beach.
Megan Gray, a Sandpiper resident, saw a sea turtle trying to swim to shore to lay eggs — or at least that’s what she thought she saw.
Gray observed the sea turtle in the water about 6:30 p.m. and contacted Wildlife Inc., a local rescue and rehabilitation organization at 2207 Ave. B, Bradenton Beach.
Wildlife Inc. contacted Karen and Chuck Anderson, two Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers who have had stranding training through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
When the Andersons arrived, they found a green sea turtle in distress, but slimy rocks and a seawall were preventing them from reaching the animal.
Meanwhile, three vacationers from Wisconsin were nearby on a kayaking excursion. Carrie, Lynn and Christy — their last names were not provided — jumped into action to help AMITW.
The Andersons asked the kayakers to gently use paddles to move the turtle to a safe area, where the volunteers could extract it from the water.
That didn’t work.
So the Andersons called Suzi Fox, executive director of AMITW, and Fox called volunteers Bob and Debbie Haynes, who own a boat.
The Haynes boated to the area and Bob Haynes jumped into the water.
Lyngbya wollei, also known as brown gumbo, hampered Haynes’ ability to see the turtle. So while he swam, the Andersons tried to direct him to the location of the turtle, which kept diving under and resurfacing in another spot.
Eventually, Haynes had the turtle in his hands but the slimy rocks prevented him from getting to shore.
Next, Carrie moved her kayak near Haynes and he hoisted the 71-pound green turtle onboard.
The turtle kept moving and Carrie, unfamiliar with sea turtles, jumped off, which made space for Debbie Haynes to slide onto the kayak and hold the turtle while her husband pushed them to shore.
The Andersons, having determined the turtle was sick and needed evaluation at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital, drove with the turtle to Mote on City Island at the southern tip of Longboat Key.
At Mote, experts drew blood from the turtle and treated it with antibiotics.
Kerri, as named by the AMITW volunteers, was added Aug. 31 to Mote’s sea turtle patient database, said Stephannie Kettle, director of marketing and public relations.
Although not eating as of Aug. 31, Kerri was recovering from a possible boat strike that caused head injuries.
Aug. 23, the island village saved a green turtle named Kerri.
Now they await news of Kerri’s recovery.