NOAA Research Vessel Rescues Three Teenagers off New Jersey

Shelley Dawicki
Communications Specialist, NOAA Fisheries Service

For the scientists and crew aboard the NOAA Fisheries Research Vessel Nauvoo, studying coastal seascapes and rescuing three teenagers from an overturned boat proved to be all in a day’s work.

The scientists were returning to port June 9 from a long day working off northern New Jersey and Long Island when they spotted what appeared to be ducks bobbing on the surface just ahead of them near the entrance to the Atlantic Highlands, N.J. Marina. The Nauvoo is based at the nearby James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory at Sandy Hook, N.J., and was on the first two-week cruise of a new project.  As the Nauvoo got closer to shore, those on board discovered that what they spotted was not ducks, but three teenagers whose small rowboat had swamped.  Two were clinging to the overturned boat, and the third had drifted away but was nearby.

NOAA Corps Officer-in-Charge Amanda Goeller and Mate Peter Plantamura maneuvered the 50-foot Nauvoo into position for a rescue, lowering the swim ladder so the two males on the overturned boat could swim to the vessel.  Once safely on board, the crew pulled up the ladder and moved into position to recover the third person. The Nauvoo then recovered the 12-foot aluminum rowboat by hoisting it onto the deck with the Nauvoo’s A-frame and winches.

The three young men, who had apparently been fishing, were unhurt and thankful for the help from the Nauvoo.  Once in port, the trio left with their boat, and promised to wear life jackets next time. “It all happened so fast, and fortunately it worked out well,” said Goeller. “They left with only their pride hurt.”

The next day, the scientists and ship’s crew were back to their research work, studying two areas of ocean off the coasts of northern New Jersey and Long Island, as part of the 2008 Ecology of Coastal Ocean Seascapes (ECOS) project. Another two-week cruise will take place in July and a third in September.