RIGHT TO THE CHIN

Boaters find kitten swimming 3 miles offshore in Gulf of Mexico

UnBELIEVEABLE story...

AP -- ST. PETERSBURG -- When Maggie Rogers spotted something bobbing in the water three miles into the Gulf of Mexico while on a scalloping trip with friends, she assumed it was a turtle, or a piece of sea kelp.

But as the boat got closer and slowed down, she found it was a tiny, apricot-colored kitten. Nine inches long and screaming at the top of its lungs, the cat was paddling furiously.

"We scooped him up and he sat on the boat with me for eight hours,'' said Rogers, who is the finance director at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

"He was exhausted and stressed,'' Rogers said. "His heart rate was high.''

The boaters on the 17-foot Scout Current Drift did not know how the kitten arrived in the Homosassa Bay. There were at least 40 boats in the crowded area where he was found, they said.

On Tuesday, three days after he was found, a veterinarian found the 10-week-old, 1-pound kitten had worms, but was otherwise healthy.

He was adopted by Rogers' sister-in-law and named Nemo.