If you would like to be part of our citizen science team that walks the beach looking for evidence of turtle nests, please call Judy. We had our kick-off party on Friday night, and got some great video which we will share later. In the meanwhile, we need daily or weekly walkers… please let me know if you want to walk, or even if you just want to be on the list.
We also want to take a moment to introduce our two new sea turtle interns. We share these interns with Cape and Bull Islands, and Dewees Island received a special award from the state last year for expanding our turtle protection program to help with those islands as well as Capers Island.
Sonia Morrone graduated from Iowa State University in May 2010 with a BS in Biology and a minor in Animal Ecology. Her most recent turtle work comes from the Valencia, Spain Marine Laboratory where she worked on the rescue and response team for stranded turtles and marine mammals.
Sarah Wooden is a senior majoring in Zoology with a concentration in Marine Biology from Michigan State University. Her most recent turtle work comes from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where she worked as a Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Intern.
Regarding the intern program: Sarah Dawsey sent the following note to Gary:
Hi Gary,
Congratulations on your award! The interns have helped to keep the historic nesting surveys and nest protection of Cape and Lighthouse Islands going as well as expand our survey and nest protection efforts to Bulls Island in 2007. Bulls Island gets approximately 120 nests per year. Depending on the year and experience of the intern, they may help cover Bulls Island but even if they do not go to Bulls, they help cover Cape and Lighthouse freeing a volunteer with enough boating and turtle experience to go to Bulls. In other words, regardless of what island they work on, their contribution allows us to continue to provide complete coverage of all three islands. Many thanks for your support of Cape Romain!
Take Care,
Sarah
Sarah Dawsey, Biologist
Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge
More information about the award we got for expanding the turtle program can be found here,
2010 SCDNR MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION PROGRAM AWARD RECIPIENTS
This year at the 2010 SCDNR Marine Turtle Program Post-Sea- son Appreciation Meeting, five individuals were presented with awards. From left to right: Charlotte Hope received an award for her “Lifetime Dedication to Sea Turtle Conservation”; Gary Mc- Graw and Betsy Brabson received awards for “Expanding the Horizons” by leading the new Capers and North Island sea turtle nesting surveys, respectively; Jeff McClary of the South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts received an award “In Appreciation for His 27 Years of Service” to sea turtle conservation because he is the longest serving volunteer in South Carolina (Jeff is not pictured above but Richard Hudak accepted the award in his absence); and Trent Eskew who managed the sea turtle project at the Yawkey Wildlife Center received an award for his “Efforts to Go the Extra Mile” for sea turtle conservation efforts on South and Sand Islands. South Carolina has just over 1100 cooperators that work together for the conservation of sea turtles. SCDNR and the citizens of South Carolina are indebted to the time and committment of these individuals and their dedication to sea turtle conservation.