On the night of September 26th, Hurricane Helene made a pass with its center of circulation approximately 60-miles off of Tampa Bay. The storm sent record storm surge to the West Coast of Florida. This heavy surge battered the small island Egmont Key, located at the entrance of Tampa Bay, flooding the island and endangering all wildlife there. 
One of the more susceptible residents of the island is the State Threatened Gopher Tortoise. The storm surge killed many of the resident tortoises on the island, because they could not swim or avoid the rising waters. Amazingly, a few lucky tortoises made an absolutely incredible journey to Fort DeSoto!
While assessing the damage, rangers found tortoises that were tagged and monitored on Egmont Key! Somehow the tortoises had survived the trip across close to a mile of water just to be deposited at Fort DeSoto Park. The tortoises have created burrows and their burrows, have been marked off to protect them. Rangers at the park will continue to monitor the tortoises and protect them in the same manner as the Egmont Key staff. Get by there to see these incredible survivors!