The hunt is still a few weeks away, but the coast guard said the ice thickness is somewhat thinner this year.

The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act is an important authorization for our country and for our citizens, as we have seen so vividly in the last few weeks.

Water keepers patrol local waterways and prosecute polluters. Essentially, they act as the community's coast guard.

The Coast Guard has long been known as the armed service that gets more done for less.

Our guys monitor the thickness of the ice and we flag it, preferring to err on the side of caution.

We'll never be able to thank those guys enough, ... We're just so grateful... Those Coast Guard guys had been out there in Biloxi, in Mobile, in New Orleans and they just happened to be flying low and there were sunny skies.