(LEWES, Del.) - Coast guard members discover a loggerhead sea turtle about two and half miles away from the Cape Henlopen shore.
They named the turtle Tammie, after a Coast Guard Cutter boat called Tamaroa, that was sunk.
Tammie the turtle weight 252 pounds and is between 2 1/2 to 3 feet long.
After realizing that she was having trouble diving, the coastguard calls the Marine Education, Research, and Rehabilition Institute, known as MERR, and rescues her.
MERR's Suzanne Thurman says when turtles get an infection gases can build up in their bodies and can stop them from swimming to the bottom of the water.
"As the gases inflat in the tissues, it creates these air pockets," Thurman states.
Loggerhead turtles eat horseshoe crabs and other critters the dwell towards the bottom of the water. So gas build-ups prevent them from reaching food.
Thurman says that 5 boat propeller marks are found on Tammie's shell.
"The greatest cause of death for sea turtles that we respond to is boat propeller injuries," says Thurman.
Sea turtles come up to the surface of the water to sleep. Something boaters might want to be aware of.
If anyone hits a sea creature or sees one that needs help, you can call the MERR institutes 24 hour hotline at (302) 228-5029 so they can send help.
Tammie the turtle was cared for at the MERR institute in Delaware, but now she's at a long term care facility in New Jersey.
