Coast Guard makes dramatic Tampa Bay rescue
March 7, 2023 - According to a Facebook post from U.S. Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, crews responded in the early morning hours of March 4 to reports of "a person in the water in the vicinity of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge." The unidentified person was discovered in Tampa Bay, near Egmont Key, at approximately 4:30 a.m. by Coast Guard and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue personnel. According to the social media post, the victim had been "dragged by a barge" and was in the water for nearly eight hours when discovered, "alert and conscious."