Captain Chase Hawkinson has spent a lot of time on his boat. Working to tow disabled boats back to shore, Hawkinson was finishing up with one job and was on his way back out for another. On the way back out he spotted what he thought was a human in the water near the jetties. A closer look revealed something completely unexpected.
“I didn’t think it was a dog swimming in the middle of the Intracoastal between the jetties,” said Hawkinson.
As Hawkinson grew closer to what he thought was a person, he realized that it was actually a dog.
“I looked around and there was one couple on the beach. I figured, ‘Okay, I’ll see if I can go get him and see if he’s theirs,’” he said.
The closer Hawkinson got, the more the dog swam away from the boat. Eventually, Hawkinson caught up with the dog, and was able to pluck him out of the water. Once on the boat, Hawkinson took the dog over to the couple on the shore. They had never seen the dog before, and said it wasn’t theirs.
Hawkinson said he’s going to take the dog to a vet, to see if maybe it had been micro-chipped. There were no identification tags on the dog, so he thinks maybe the owners can be found that way.
“No tags, nothing,” Hawkinson said. “Just a pretty little Lab. I guess I’ll hold on to him now and try to find out who’s it is.”
