VIPs (That's Volunteers in Parks)

Every now and then, I do take photos of people, or they take them of me. With so many busy volunteers this time of year, it's inevitable. We couldn't do half the things we do for the turtles without them.



A nice group at the local EPA office are very interested in nest sitting for some of the 40 nests due to hatch. With about 40,000 tiny turtles expected in the next two months, we'll need all the help we can get. It will be hard to keep them all safe from sea gulls, raccoons, ghost crabs and other predators with just our small NPS staff.



I think we have a good group here -- these busy scientists were willing to give up their lunch hour just to learn about nest sitting. I hope to see many of them on the beaches soon!



Of course, we couldn't get anything accomplished without the help of our team of 20 volunteers who complete daily surveys of all of our Gulf front beach, searching for new nests and tiny turtle tracks. Their hours of hard work and unwavering dedication are just amazing!



Our tiny turtles thank them...



one and all...