A research project to help protect the loggerhead sea turtle along the southeast coastline, including South Carolina’s, is seeking individual donations. The research effort is endorsed by the Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy, the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol, the Kiawah Conservancy, the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol, which is sponsored by the Town of Kiawah Island, and by the Kiawah Island Community Association.
In the past, the Northern Recovery Unit Loggerhead DNA Project, headed by Dr. Brian Shamblin from the University of Georgia, has been fully funded by a federal grant; however, this is no longer the case. The project is now dependent on state grants and individual donations to remain in operation. Donations are being sought by November 1 to ensure the continuation of this important project, which has been underway for more than a decade and covers all the turtle nests in North Carolina, South Carolina, and several beaches in northern Florida.
Researchers at the Northern Recovery Unit extract maternal DNA from loggerhead eggs provided by patrols to identify the individual female associated with each nest and develop a census of the nesting population. This is a multi-state approach that has gathered invaluable information about loggerhead nesting patterns along 1,000 miles of the southeast coastline.
Please consider donating today. As a registered 501(c)(3), the Kiawah Conservancy is collecting the donations and 100% of the funds collected will be transferred to the Northern Recovery Unit Loggerhead DNA Project. Please make your tax-deductible donation today either online at Kiawah Conservancy or via mail to:
Kiawah Conservancy
80 Kestrel Court
Kiawah Island, SC 29455
Please make checks payable to the Kiawah Conservancy and note “Sea Turtle Research” in the memo line. Thank you so much for your support
-Submitted by Stan McDonald, Seabrook Island Green Space Conservancy
(Image credit: Tidelines media library)