The Network for Endangered Sea Turtles

http://www.nestonline.org/index.htm

The Network for Endangered Sea Turtles(N.E.S.T. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the habitats and migration routes of Sea Turtle and other marine animals on the Outer Banks of North Carolina from the Virginia border to Oregon Inlet.

Established in 1995, N.E.S.T. is also a State-permitted monitoring organization for sea turtle activity from the Virginia border to Oregon Inlet. The Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (N.E.S.T.) is a nonprofit organization of volunteers established under North Carolina law.N.E.S.T. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt origination under the Internal Revenue Code.

Volunteers are always needed for a variety of tasks that include turtle rehabilitation, driving a N.E.S.T. ATV to monitor turtle crawls, responding to turtle strandings, and sitting on turtle nests awaiting hatchlings. N.E.S.T. is funded primarily through private donations, tee-shirt and souvenir sales, and fund raising events.

To become a N.E.S.T. Volunteer please fill out the on-line application found here:
On-Line N.E.S.T. Application

If you have any questions about Volunteering please contact us by Mail or E-Mail:

Network for Endangered Sea Turtles 
(N.E.S.T.)
P.O. Box 1168
Kitty Hawk, NC 27949

E-Mail N.E.S.T

Let us honor the passing of Andre, a brave green sea turtle

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A sea turtle who survived catastrophic injuries and underwent a year of rehabilitation and innovative surgeries has been found dead, three weeks after he was released off the Florida coast.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center said Andre, as he was known, was found Wednesday on Hutchinson Island. He was in such bad condition that what killed him couldn’t be determined. An identification tag confirmed it was him.

Andre was found split open and stranded in June 2010 with massive injuries. Veterinarians used cutting-edge techniques to save him, including vacuum therapy and orthodontics.

The turtle’s story was followed by many of the 225,000 annual visitors to the center and through a round-the-clock webcam. Children flooded him with mail and checks flowed in from around the world to support his care.

Andre, an endangered green turtle, is released into the ocean after a 414 day stay at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Fla on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011. Andre was found more than a year ago, stranded on a sandbar and split open by multiple boat strikes. He had gashes in his shell, a collapsed lung and severe infections. The Loggerhead Marinelife Center put him through a 13-month rehabilitation that included groundbreaking surgeries. / AP photo/The Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters

Adopt a sea turtle!

http://www.facebook.com/seaturtle.org

Wildlife Adoption Program Perfect for that special occasion! Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and holidays. Give a great gift to your favorite animal lover and show your support for wildlife conservation by adopting a satellite tracked animal today. All proceeds support the satellite tracking programs of SEATURTLE.ORG and the organization tracking the animal that you adopt. Printable Adoption Form Step 1. 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Karen (XXC148) – Sea Grant & NRDA Kemp’s Ridley TAMUG Kemp’s Ridley Tracking Pick Me! Camellia Bald Eagle Norfolk Botanical Garden Eagle Tracking Pick Me! Forrest Loggerhead Israel Sea Turtle Tracking Project 2008: Loggerhead & Green Turtles Pick Me! Jacky Green Turtle Gabon 2010-2011: Green Turtles Pick Me! Dapper Dan Bald Eagle Grand Teton Eagles and Lead Pick Me! Rosie Flatback Turtle Barrow Island flatback tracking 2009-2010 Pick Me! Rounder Bald Eagle Grand Teton Eagles and Lead Pick Me! Yemana Flatback Turtle Barrow Island flatback tracking 2009-2010 Pick Me! Dragon Bald Eagle Grand Teton Eagles and Lead Pick Me! Wally Bald Eagle Grand Teton Eagles and Lead Pick Me! Step Bald Eagle Grand Teton Eagles and Lead Pick Me! Luisa Loggerhead Canary Islands – OAG Pick Me! Jewel Hawksbill Turks and Caicos Islands Turtle Project 2009 to 2011: Green & Hawksbill Turtles Pick Me! Tom Hawksbill Turks and Caicos Islands Turtle Project 2009 to 2011: Green & Hawksbill Turtles Pick Me! 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Save the turtles, Inc – wonderful nonprofit organization you need to know :)

Save the Turtles, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization devoted to protecting endangered sea turtles by supporting community-based projects. We financially assist sea turtle conservation programs which employ sustainable and environmentally responsible practices that enhance the lives of people who share the habitat. Because we believe sea turtle education is a key element in species survival, we provide online educational resources, including a special section for teachers and kids.

©Robert Van Damm

Sea Turtle Conservation

Since 2001, our focus of sea turtle conservation has been the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. This richly bio-diverse area is a vital nesting habitat for the Green and the Hawksbill and the fourth most critical nesting habitat in the world for the greatly endangeredLeatherback. The leatherback is so close to extinction that the emptying of just one nest of eggs has a huge impact on species survival.

Recently, we expanded our mission to save sea turtles in other habitat areas, including the United States. In 2010, we assisted organizations which were rescuing sea turtles after the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2011, we plan to provide funding to new community-based projects which need assistance protecting sea turtles, their eggs and hatchlings.

Learn about applying for financial assistance for your turtle project:funding/grants.

How We Support Conservation Projects

• We provide financial assistance to established projects that engage with the community in the direct protection of sea turtles on nesting beaches.
• We fund new projects that are well conceived and have community support.
• When possible, we provide emergency financial assistance to protect sea turtle populations in immediate crisis.

Our Commitment to Sea Turtle Education

One of our goals is to utilize our highly ranking website to help raise awareness of the threats to sea turtle survival and their importance of sea turtles to our marine eco-systems. Towards this end, we have created an online learning-hub, Ride the Turtle Rainbow:

• Extensive Educational Resources for Teachers and Students.
• Games for kids that are fun, challenging and educational. See oureducational interactive learning games.

We also provide detailed information (with photos) of the seven species of sea turtles, including the reproduction, migration habits, foraging requirements, and their value to our ecosystems. Visit oursea turtle pages to learn more.

Save the Turtles History: Grass Roots Beginning

Save the Turtles, Inc. originated as Save the Turtles of Parismina in 2001 when we began providing support to the community of Barra de Parismina, Costa Rica. For five years, we worked diligently with the local turtle association, Asociacion Salvemos Las Tortugas de Parismina (ASTOP) and the community assisting them in developing a successful conservation project that has saved hundreds of thousands of nesting turtles, eggs and hatchlings. This program brought economic advantages to locals who found new opportunities for employment as turtle guides, craft/jewelry artists and home-stay hosts. ASTOP has its own website www.parisminaturtles.org that describes its project (this link and all others on our site are only for informational purposes – we do not monitor their information or programs).

In 2007, we changed our name to Save the Turtles, Inc. to reflect our expanded mission.

Save the Turtles, Inc. is an organization exempt from U.S. federal income taxes under section 501 (c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, and contributions are accordingly tax deductible.

How You Can Help Save Sea Turtles

Please Visit our Donation Page: donations help us save turtles (options are available for a free gift with a donation).

Become a Green Alliance Partner: a win-win opportunity; it is great for your business and sea turtles (see our right hand column on this page).

Shop and Save Turtles: buy unique sea turtle t-shirts and gifts online at Cafepress.
Artists and Designers: we invite you to create a design for one of our products.

• Learn about sea turtles, their importance to the eco-system and threats to their survival.
• Respect the turtles’ habitat. When visiting nesting beaches, leave no trash and pick up any trash around. Do not use flashlights on the beach at night (turtles become disoriented).
• Avoid eating certain types of fish, shrimp and other seafood caught by longlines, trawls and gillnets. Sea turtles, dolphins and other marine life die and are discarded as “bycatch” through these fishing practices.

Sea Turtles Are Global
Thank You for Caring

Courtesy of the NOAA Central Library Photo Collection

Baby turtle’s journey home to Mama…

 

Green Sea Turtle!

 

 

 

 

 

 
The green turtle is a large, weighty sea turtle with a wide, smooth carapace, or shell. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world and has been observed clambering onto land to sunbathe.

It is named not for the color of its shell, which is normally brown or olive depending on its habitat, but for the greenish color of its skin. There are two types of green turtles—scientists are currently debating whether they are subspecies or separate species—including the Atlantic green turtle, normally found off the shores of Europe and North America, and the Eastern Pacific green turtle, which has been found in coastal waters from Alaska to Chile.

Weighing up to 700 pounds (317.5 kilograms) green turtles are among the largest sea turtles in the world. Their proportionally small head, which is nonretractable, extends from a heart-shaped carapace that measures up to 5 feet (1.5 meters). Males are slightly larger than females and have a longer tail. Both have flippers that resemble paddles, which make them powerful and graceful swimmers.

Unlike most sea turtles, adult green turtles are herbivorous, feeding on sea grasses and algae. Juvenile green turtles, however, will also eat invertebrates like crabs, jellyfish, and sponges.

While most sea turtles warm themselves by swimming close to the surface of shallow waters, the Eastern Pacific green turtle will take to land to bask in the sun. Occasionally seen sunbathing alongside seals and albatrosses, it is one of the few marine turtles known to leave the water other than at nesting times.

Green turtles, like other sea turtles, undertake lengthy migrations from feeding sites to nesting grounds, normally on sandy beaches. Mating occurs every two to four years and normally takes place in shallow waters close to the shore. To nest, females leave the sea and choose an area, often on the same beach used by their mothers, to lay their eggs. They dig a pit in the sand with their flippers, fill it with a clutch of 100 to 200 eggs, cover the pit and return to the sea, leaving the eggs to hatch after about two months. The most dangerous time of a green turtle’s life is when it makes the journey from nest to sea. Multiple predators, including crabs and flocks of gulls, voraciously prey on hatchlings during this short scamper.

Green turtles are listed as an endangered species, and a subpopulation in the Mediterranean is listed as critically endangered. Despite this, they are still killed for their meat and eggs. Their numbers are also reduced by boat propeller accidents, fishnet-caused drowning, and the destruction of their nesting grounds by human encroachment.