On Sunday, two Australian coast guard members were out on their boat when they noticed something fuzzy clinging to a wooden pole in the water.

Sean Hannam and Gary Sissons got closer and noticed the furball was a koala who was shivering.

Sean Hannam, a crew member on the boat, told local news, “I saw the koala on the mooring and at first I assumed it was a plush toy.”

Hannam and Sissons realized they couldn’t just abandon him. He was clearly exhausted and stuck after swimming out there (koalas can swim, but not very well), and he had no idea how to get back on dry land

The men were able to throw a blanket around the koala and carry him into their boat.

“We switched the motor off, and while standing on the ladder at the back of the boat, I threw a blanket over him,” Hannam explained.

While Hannam grabbed for the cuddly animal, other crew members had to stand on the opposite side of the boat from the koala to keep the boat from capsizing. “The koala didn’t fight us, and we were able to get him ashore.”

Hannam placed the bundled-up koala onshore, then turned around and walked away, almost as if thanking the individuals who assisted him.

“He got to walk away gracefully,” Hannam wrote on Facebook about the koala, alongside photos of the rescue. “Just the conservationist in me,” he said in response to the “excellent job” comments.

Source: Sean Hannam