Saving sea turtles

Last week, crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell, homeported in Alameda, Calif., were on routine patrol in the Pacific Ocean searching for drug traffickers when they came across debris. They saw five sea turtles caught in tangled fishing nets. They paused to rescue the turtles, untangling the nets and cleaned up the debris before continuing on their patrol. You can see photos of the action: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3.

Feds often do acts of kindness that are not in the job description. Sometimes it's going that extra step to help someone find the right person to call in the agency labyrinth. Or maybe it's giving a little more guidance in an e-mail message or phone call to an applicant. No matter how small, those actions seem to save the day, and in one instance, saved some turtles.

If you have other examples of small acts of public service, compassion or kindness, please share them so we can all feel good.