Coast Guard crew saves turtle from fishing line

ALAMEDA – The 418-foot Alameda-based Coast Guard Cutter, Stratton, returned to its homeport in California after a 97 day deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean where crew demonstrated their dedication to marine life.

A crew aboard their small boat noticed a sea turtle entangled in fishing line about 500 miles off the coast of Panama on March 19. After bringing the turtle aboard the boat, the crewmembers freed it from the line and sent it back to sea

Since its departure, Stratton completed a 22,000-mile patrol in support of joint counter-drug operations off the coast of California and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. During this operational patrol, Stratton’s law enforcement crews seized 500 kilograms and disrupted 1,650 kilograms of cocaine valued in excess of $70 Million.

Stratton is the Coast Guard’s newest National Security Cutter and is capable of patrolling from South America to the Bering Sea. Their unmatched combination of range, speed, and ability to operate in extreme weather and with a crew of 145 members are a critical component of the Coast Guard. Stratton provides the mission flexibility necessary to conduct counter-narcotics, homeland security, and alien migrant interdiction operations, domestic fisheries protection, search and rescue, and other Coast Guard missions at great distances from shore keeping threats far from the U.S. mainland.