ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nature videographer Michael McCarthy was flying his drone on Feb. 28 when he spotted a loggerhead turtle struggling in red tide waters 70 feet off Indian Rocks Beach and had it rescued.

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“In obvious, serious, need of help immediately,” said McCarthy. “You didn’t need to be a marine biologist to see that turtle needs help now.”  

McCarthy said from the shoreline he immediately uploaded one minute worth of video and sent a link to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which allowed a biologist to see exactly what was happening with the loggerhead.

“I knew anybody watching that would be like, ‘Oh yeah, that turtle needs help,’” he said. “FWC was really fast to have a marine biologist call me back.”

Thanks to his drone, McCarthy provided FWC with the exact GPS coordinates of the distressed turtle. A team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) responded and is seen on video carrying away the gasping turtle.

“Time is everything when it comes to those situations,” said McCarthy. “I was just grateful to be able to do that and spotted it so early.”

CMA spokesperson Andrea Alava said their veterinary team continues to evaluate the male turtle’s health condition. The aquarium named the loggerhead Shenandoah.

“The turtle is currently stable but still in critical condition. He is swimming in shallow water,” she said. “He has started to eat and his red tide level is improving.”

On Mar. 4, Jennifer Hardie Wyatt took a photo of a dead loggerhead turtle on Madeira Beach. In her social media post, Wyatt wrote, “this was one of the saddest things I’ve seen on the beach… dang red tide!”

The current red tide outbreak began last October and the algae bloom is suspected of killing 104 turtles from Collier County north to Pinellas County, according to FWC spokesperson Carly Jones. That includes the Madeira Beach turtle.

“It had no other indication of cause of mortality, so it will be attributed to red tide,” said Jones. “That turtle was salvaged for necropsy and we’ll take samples for brevetoxin testing at that time.”   

On Mar. 5, while flying his drone, McCarthy said he spotted another dead sea turtle that had washed ashore on Indian Rocks Beach. Jones said this month there have been two other turtles stranded in Pinellas County — one was near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and the other was at Sunset Beach.

Water quality is important to McCarthy, who makes a living shooting nature videos of sea life and selling personal watercraft through his company See Through Canoe.

“Both things keep me on the water,” he said. “That’s where I want to be.”

McCarthy said he flies his drone everyday looking for wildlife. Some of his nature videos have gone viral, even shown on national news networks and shows like Animal Planet, according to McCarthy.

“I’ve sold a few to National Geographic,” he said. “It also gets a lot of interest from people working on documentaries.”  

On Jan. 26, McCarthy posted a video of Cownose rays swimming past a couple at the beach on his Facebook page and it has received over 115 million views.

“Aside from this red tide situation, it’s got an amazing amount of marine life,” he said. “So, it kills me to see it (red tide).”

McCarthy said the frequent algae blooms may ultimately push him away.

“It’s every year, and it’s just not getting better,” he said. “I’d like something to be done about the issue before it affects the tourism industry dramatically and before it’s just such a problem that we can’t get back from.”  

Jones said of the 104 turtles suspected to have died from red tide; 63 were loggerheads, 26 were green turtles, 13 were Kemp’s ridleys, 1 was a hawksbill, and there was 1 sea turtle not identified to species.

Red tide has also killed manatees from the beginning of the year through March 3. There have been 7 suspected cases, according to Jones.