The Coast Guard made two rescues Monday in Bay area waters.
According to Coast Guard officials, crews rescued a couple and their two dogs after their 32-foot boat started taking on water five miles south of the Gandy Bridge.
After receiving a 911 transfer call from Pinellas County Sheriff's Office just before 5:30 p.m., a 45-foot response boat was launched. Coast Guard crew members placed the boat in tow, and transferred the people, their dogs, and their boat to Hula Bay Marina in Tampa.
There were no reported injuries.
"The man made the correct and educated decision to continue making way toward the marina," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Timothy C. Kane, the Coast Guard RB-M operator from the station. "And, it was great to see they were wearing their life jackets. Even the dogs were wearing life jackets."
The second rescue happened later in the evening off Hernando Beach. Coast Guard crews had to rescue a worker on a commercial fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico.
A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew airlifted a 37-year-old man from a 30-foot shrimping boat, six miles west of Homosassa on Monday night just before 9 p.m.
The man, working aboard the shrimping boat, Katie, suffered a severe injury when his hand became caught in some rigging on the boat.
He was transported to Tampa General Hospital, where doctors were forced to amputate some of his fingers.
Officials have not released the man's name or condition yet.