Volunteers Hoist 172-lb Sea Turtle 35 Feet to Safety
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- Scott Dexter and volunteers from the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center hoisted the 172-pound loggerhead, later named Bowser, about 35 feet above the Gulf of Mexico on June 7 after a fisherman foul-hooked it in the left front flipper, using a specialized hoist Dexter designed for turtle rescues.
- Bowser's rescue was the 26th turtle rescue from the pier in 2026 and the 27th occurred two days later; the center rescued 59 turtles from the pier in 2025, mainly loggerheads and green sea turtles.
- Navarre Beach Fishing Pier — the longest fishing pier in Florida at 1,545 feet — accounted for 100% of Santa Rosa County's turtle incidents between 2014 and 2022, and the county represented 56% (254 of 452) of all fishing pier entanglements reported on Florida's Gulf Coast from 2000 to 2022, per a study by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers.
- Scott Dexter said about 38% of turtles hooked at the pier can be rescued before breaking the line and swimming off with fishing gear still attached, meaning the 503 strandings reported statewide by the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network last year are likely an undercount.
- Bowser was transported to the Gulfarium CARE Center in Fort Walton Beach, where staff removed a J-style fishing hook from his left front flipper and a second external hook he had been carrying for an unknown period; turtles rescued that week were named with a Super Mario Brothers theme.
- The Responsible Pier Initiative — a coalition of 76 organizations administered by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center — has reported 2,230 turtle interactions and 1,181 rescues since its 2013 founding, with researchers finding 85% of rescued Gulf turtles are successfully rehabilitated and released while about 6% die during or after rescue.
- All five sea turtle species in the Gulf — loggerhead, green, Kemp's ridley, leatherback, and hawksbill — are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, with scientists estimating fewer than 1,000 breeding female Kemp's ridleys remain worldwide.
Why it matters: One pier in a small Florida Panhandle community is generating the majority of the state's Gulf Coast fishing-pier turtle entanglements — 254 of 452 between 2000 and 2022 — and the 38% rescue rate means the 503 strandings reported statewide likely capture only a fraction of actual hookings, with the rest of hooked turtles disappearing into the Gulf carrying potentially lethal fishing gear.
