By Jonathan C. Szerlag

When you’re sitting on the beach, looking at the lifeguard towers usually brings a sense of security, along with the knowledge that you’re protected from the dangers of the ocean.  But lifeguards do more than just guard the lives of beach goers. Their responsibilities also include rescuing the lives of the marine animals that the swimmers share the water with. From rescuing pelicans from fishing lines to turtles and other animals that get caught in nets, lifeguards have to always be on the lookout for any person, or any animal, that is in danger.

On the 16th of July, a patron approached tower 19 and explained that he saw a large sting ray that seemed to be caught in a net. The Lifeguards jumped on their boards and jet-ski’s to check it out. What they found was a large gill net, about 200ft long, imprisoning the creature. As the Ocean Rescue Supervisor Justin Broman explained, “a gill net is like a volleyball net floating in the water. It has floaters on top and weights on the bottom. It tangles up anything that swims in it.” The large ray was a Manta Ray. It was about 200-300 pounds and was trapped with eight other types of sting rays and dozens of fish and crabs.

“As I swam the length of the net and saw how much wildlife was caught in it, I knew we had a big situation,” said Broman. The other lifeguards that helped in the rescue were, Brian Shannon, Chris Padin, Jesus Mezquia and Carlos Escudero. The Manta Ray was rescued alive, along with the other rays, two of them being Eagle Rays, but the fish and the 20 or so crabs were all dead. “If we didn’t save [the sting rays] they would have died,” said Lifeguard Carlos Escudero. “They probably wouldn’t have survived for much longer.”

It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish according to Broman. As they were attempting to cut out the smaller sting rays, they were trying to stay away from the deadly barb on the Eagle Ray’s stinger. Also, as they were trying to cut out and save the large Manta Ray, “It was just pulling us along with it as it was trying to get away,” said Broman. “But then it seemed to realize what we were trying to do and it just calmed down and let us save it.” “We tried to do our best and save as much as we could,” said Lifeguard Jesus Mezquia. “I was very happy that we could save that beautiful Manta Ray.”

Mezquia has been involved in many rescues, mostly Manatees. But for Carlos Escudero, it was his first time in a wildlife rescue. “It was awesome,” said Escudero about the rescue. “It’s like saving a person. These animals, they feel. People shouldn’t be doing this, so it’s a good feeling to be able to help [the animals] when they are in trouble.” Sadly, the net didn’t have any identifying marks on it for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWC), but they were able to dispose of the net in a safe fashion.

Aside from rescuing marine life and beach patrons, the Sunny Isles Beach Lifeguards have also had to deal with some unusual ocean debris. They have taken care of two United States Navy missiles/mines as well as an old crusted buoy.