The sun was just a tiny sliver of orange over the water in Clover Cove. The waves whispered on the sand as Blaze the Bernese Mountain Dog went for his morning walk. His big paws went this way and his wagging tail went that way.
He trotted along the beach, sniffing the salty air.
Then he stopped.
What was that?
In the sand, right by the tall grass, something was moving. Not one something. A hundred somethings!
Tiny, dark green shells. Wiggling flippers. Baby sea turtles! They were crawling out of their sandy nest. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. They were moving fast!
But they weren't going toward the water. They were crawling straight for the road that ran past the docks.
A low rumble rolled down the road. It was the morning fishing truck, its big headlights cutting through the dawn.
Blaze's ears perked up. He barked into his pup tag. "Jake! Jake, come in!"
At the Lookout, a big screen flickered on. "I'm here, Blaze. What's up?"
"Turtles! So many tiny turtles! They're going the wrong way, right toward the road! And the truck is coming!"
Jake looked at the screen. He could see the whole beach. The turtles were fanned out like a tiny army, marching for the road. He had to act fast.
"Okay, Blaze, stay right there! This is a job for… Tank!"
In his bed, Tank the bulldog opened one eye. "Let's dig it!"
"And… Splash!"
Splash the water dog was already stretching. "Wheels or waves, let's go!"
Jake pointed to the big silver zipline. "Crew, launch!"
WHIZZ! Tank zoomed down the zipline.
THUMP! He landed right in the seat of his yellow bulldozer.
WHIZZ! Splash zipped down next.
THUMP! He hopped into his blue boat-truck.
Jake slid down last and jumped onto his red ATV. The engines started up.
RUMBLE! VROOM!
They raced down the hill toward the beach.
When they arrived, Blaze was waiting, wagging his tail with worry. The baby turtles were almost to the edge of the sand. The truck was even closer, its lights shining brightly.
"Okay, Crew!" Jake said. "We need to stop them from reaching the road. Tank, can you build a wall?"
"Can do!" Tank lowered the big scoop on his bulldozer.
SCRAPE!
He pushed a long line of sand into a small wall between the turtles and the road.
FWUMP!
The sand wall was finished. But the little turtles just kept coming! They scrambled with their tiny flippers, up and over the sandy wall they went.
It wasn't working!
The truck rumbled closer.
Jake looked around. What could they use? What was long and strong but soft enough not to hurt the turtles?
He saw Captain Briggs standing on the dock by his boat, waving his arms.
"Fun fact!" Captain Briggs shouted. "Sea turtle hatchlings sometimes get confused by bright lights!"
Jake looked at the truck's headlights. Then he looked at Captain Briggs's boat, the Sea Turtle. He saw a big, soft fishing net piled up on the deck.
That was it!
"Splash! Go ask Captain Briggs if we can borrow his fishing net!" Jake called.
Splash's truck drove right over the sand.
SPLOOSH!
It drove right into the water and floated like a boat. A moment later, he was back with the big, long net.
"Tank, help me unroll it!" Jake said.
Together, the pups pulled the soft net. It stretched all the way across the beach. They laid it down gently in a big, wide curve. One end was by the dunes and the other end pointed right to the ocean.
It made a perfect, friendly fence.
The first baby turtle reached the net. It bumped its little nose against the soft rope.
BUMP.
It turned. And it started to follow the net. The next turtle did the same. And the next!
Soon, all the turtles were wiggling and crawling along the net, away from the road and straight toward the waves.
Captain Briggs tried to help coil up the leftover rope, but his feet got tangled.
WHOOPS!
FWUMP!
He sat down hard on the dock. "Fun fact! A sailor's knot is strongest when it's tied around my ankle!"
The first tiny turtle reached the water's edge.
SPLISH.
It disappeared into a wave. Then another.
SPLOSH.
One by one, the tiny turtles met the big, wide ocean and swam away. The fishing truck rumbled past on the road, safe and sound.
The Crew watched the last little turtle swim out to sea. The sun was up now, warm and yellow. Captain Briggs untangled his feet and walked over. "You saved them, Crew. Fun fact! A sea turtle can find the exact beach where it was born, even after many, many years."
GRRROWWLL!
A loud rumble came from Tank's tummy. It was even louder than the fishing truck. He looked up at Jake. "Is it time for a breakfast snack yet?"
Jake laughed. "It sure is, Tank. Let's go home."
