MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A group of firefighters helped rescue a sea turtle that got itself stuck between rocks on a beach in South Florida.

A local photographer first spotted the 300-pound turtle when taking sunrise pictures at a Martin County beach. She called Florida Fish and Wildlife experts to help, and an officer arrived with help from the county’s fire rescue, according to a Facebook post.

The officials were able to lift the female loggerhead from where it was lodged so she could make her way back to the ocean.

The video from wildlife officials shows the massive turtle making her way off the rocks and onto the sand, where she waddled to the water.  

Loggerhead turtles are the most common sea turtles in Florida and are found all around the state’s coast. They are protected as a threatened species, and there are laws against taking, possessing, disturbing, mutilating, selling or taking marine turtles, nests or eggs. 

They are mainly threatened by accidental capture in shrimp and fishing nets, as they cannot escape and drown. Development of beaches where the turtles nest also threatens their population. This also contributes to artificial lighting, which causes hatchlings to migrate towards the light instead of the ocean. 

Here are some steps beachgoers can follow to make sure they don’t disturb turtle nests: 

• Make sure to take everything with you when you leave the beach
• Fill in holes, knock down sandcastles and take furniture off the beach
• Don’t abandon fishing gear
• Don’t disturb nesting turtles or emerging hatchlings
• Do contact Florida Fish and Wildlife Rescue to report any dead or injured marine life
• Don’t use artificial light (cell phones, flash photography, fishing lamps) on the beach at night 
• If you find a turtle (adult or hatchling) in distress, call FWC at 888-404-3922