One of Sea Turtle Conservancy’s slogans for the annual Tour de Turtles event is, “saving sea turtles is a marathon, not a sprint.” For Pirate Patty — one of two adult loggerhead sea turtles released back into the ocean July 29 as part of the event — the marathon began at a slow pace…even for a turtle.
When the gate was raised the large reptile needed a little prodding to leave the chute. However, with the roar of the surf and the cheers from hundreds of well-wishers lining her path, Pirate Patty soon made a beeline into the water.
For Nicholas Magal, a high school student at St. Edwards School and Sea Turtle Conservancy volunteer, seeing the loggerhead release caps off a campaign of support and work to make the event a success.
“It’s great to see all the people here,” Nicholas said. “It feels good to be a part of this.”
Nicholas hopes to be part of events again next year, he said.
Magal’s mother, Helen Stamatacos, who also volunteers with Sea Turtle Conservancy, said she and her husband, Dr. Charles Magal, have always supported the teen’s interest in animal conservation.
“We, as a family, have been involved in various ways with environmental issues but when we purchased our home in Melbourne about seven years ago, we fell in love with the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and the sea turtles on its beaches,” Stamatacos said. “Have you ever looked into the eyes of a sea turtle? There is something so amazing about them, something ancient.”
When Nicholas asked for help with sponsorship of a sea turtle, it fit well with their family values, she said.
“With Tour de Turtles, we thought (it) would be a great way to create excitement for the children of St. Ed’s,” Stamatacos said. “So they can have a turtle of their own, to name and to follow and to be exposed to such an amazing creature here — in their own back or front yards.”
Stamatacos and Magal approached St. Edward’s Head of the School Mike Mersky, at a school event in the beginning of last year and soon found that he, too, considered sponsorship of a turtle to be a valuable learning and community project, she said.
“The school has taken on this community project with wonderful enthusiasm and support,” Stamatacos said. “The children had a contest in May to choose a name for the turtle and voila — Pirate Patty.
Knowledge and understanding is essential to conservation,” she said.
“Education is the key to helping save the turtles,” Stamatacos said. “How many times have we had visitors not realize that the tracks on the beach are those of sea turtles nesting? How many times have we seen someone stepping on an unmarked nest or someone disturbing a nesting turtle?”
Sea Turtle Conservancy Public Relations Coordinator Rocio Johnson said Sea Turtle Conservancy has hosted Tour de Turtles releases for five years in Vero Beach in partnership with Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, Disney Animal Programs, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and Disney Friends for Change.
“The resort is located on one of the most important sea turtle nesting beaches in the world,” Johnson said. “Disney makes every effort to minimize any impact on sea turtles on their beach, and they have biologists on staff working on research programs to advance conservation.”
Tour de Turtles was a natural fit to expand their conservation and education efforts because it combines migratory research with public education, she said.
“The best part of Tour de Turtles is how excited the crowd gets when they see an adult sea turtle,” Johnson said. “It’s how we know that we are inspiring people to protect sea turtles for future generations.”
Tour de Turtles is a unique opportunity for the public to see an adult sea turtle. Turtles taking part in the event are healthy, nesting turtles and information gathered from their tracking gives valuable insight to the lifecycle of the endangered species, she said.
Pirate Patty will be monitored in her movements via a satellite tracking device affixed to the turtle’s shell. Over the next three months, whichever of the two released turtles migrates furthest is deemed the “winner.”
For more information or to track the turtles’ progress, visit www.tourdeturtles.org.