A nature videographer flying a drone spotted an endangered loggerhead sea turtle struggling in the red tide. He quickly alerted wildlife officials who showed up to save it.

• A videographer in Florida saw an loggerhead turtle lingering near the ocean's surface last month.

• After he quickly alerted officials, the turtle was rescued and is still recovering at a rehab facility.

• The rehab facility confirmed the turtle had been exposed to red tide, a toxic algae bloom.

A nature videographer in Florida was out shooting the coastline last month with his drone, as he often does, when he spotted something unusual in the water — a loggerhead sea turtle lingering near the surface.

"It was pretty easy to spot because it was floating at the surface and he didn't dive down," Michael McCarthy, the owner of the See Through Canoe Company, told Insider. "Normally when you see a turtle out in the ocean, they're only at the surface for 20 seconds to a minute, just to get their breath and go back down."

But this turtle, off a beach near St. Petersburg, was staying at the surface. Upon zooming in with his drone, it was obvious to McCarthy that the turtle needed help, and needed it fast.

He took about a minute of footage to document the turtle's behavior, knowing it would be important, before racing home to upload the video and call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC.

"When you call FWC or other agencies, they don't know if you have any experience with turtles or marine life, or if you've got any idea what you're really looking at," McCarthy explained. He knew the video would help him show that the turtle needed help.

FWC connected him with one of their biologists, who called him back within minutes. She began asking him a bunch of questions about the situation, but he knew time was of the essence. He cut her short and explained he could send her the video.

"That way you can see for yourself and assess for yourself exactly the situation, and know how quickly he needs help," McCarthy told her. He added he had the exact GPS coordinates of where the turtle was, thanks to his drone.

Within an hour, a marine biologist from FWC was at the beach.

The biologist swam out into the water and gently guided the large sea turtle towards the shore. Once it was on the sand, another beachgoer used his umbrella to shade the turtle from the sun.