Cop Saves Turtles From Parking Lot, 100 Sea Turtles Rescued

Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty. A cop saved nearly 100 turtles from a Lido Beach parking lot this week when he discovered the stranded sea turtle hatchlings.

Police officer Derek Conley was on patrol over the weekend at the Lido Beach Resort when he noticed the turtle hatchlings crawling towards the front door. Conley walked to the door when someone checking into the resort mentioned the strange turtles sighting.

The cop saved the turtles by grabbing empty boxes and collecting each turtle one by one from the parking lot. Several resort visitors pitched in to help with the rescue effort.

As he drove the turtle hatchlings to their final beach home, officer Conley stopped traffic several times so he could pick up other turtles. The officer found some of the sea turtles walking along sidewalks and down the middle of Ben Franklin Drive.

The officer released 90 to 100 hatchlings successfully into their new ocean home.

Law enforcement in the area notes that sea turtles hatch from May 1 through October 21, 2013. Residents and visitors who don’t want to touch the sea turtle hatchling are urged to call local police who will rescue the stragglers.

The sea turtles often become stranded because their natural hatching areas are now covered by residential and commercial buildings where their hatching grounds are located.

Are you impressed with the cops sea turtle rescue efforts and his decision to stop traffic in order to save as many turtles as possible?