A COASTGUARD team have been thanked for their work in recovering the body of a dead quarter-tonne leatherback turtle.

Members of the South Woodham Ferrers Coastguard received a letter of thanks from the Government’s Receiver of Wreck office.

The team helped the National History Museum with the recovery of the turtle’s body after it was discovered in Mundon Creek by dog walkers.

The letter said: “The Receiver of Wreck would like to thank you with your assistance with the incident you attended on Mundon Creek in December 2019 regarding the report of a deceased leatherback turtle.

“Although turtles are not part of the remit of the office of the Receiver or Wreck, or a specific responsibility for HM Coastguard, your assistance was well-received.

“The National History Museum were also very appreciative of your help on the day they were dealing with the turtle’s removal and have asked the Receiver of Wreck to pass on their thanks.

“Your willingness to assist in this incident, even though it fell outside of your normal remit, is a testament to your dedication to and professionalism within your volunteer role within HM Coastguard.

“Thank you for your assistance in the successful resolution of this incident.”

Coastguard rescue officer Colin Stroud said: “It was a challenging task for our team with the assistance of a local farmer to recover a 1.7 metre-long, quarter of a tonne turtle from the creek for transportation to London – not something which is covered in our training.”

“As a Coastguard rescue officer, you never know what the next job is going to be.

“But when the pagers sounded last December, the last thing we thought was that it was going to be was to investigate reports of a leatherback turtle.”

Mr Stroud added: “The South Woodham Coastguard team, like all the other teams around the coast, is made up of volunteers who dedicate their time to help others in difficulty.

“The satisfaction of doing a good job is our expected reward, so to get a letter of thanks is an added bonus and additional motivation to the whole team.”