Grant: 21-010E
Project Title: Stop and Look! Raising Awareness with Three Types of Educational Materials
Project Manager: Lindsey Flynn
Organization: Clearwater Marine Aquarium (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $5,507.25
Completion Date: 2021-11-10
Summary: Each nesting season, permitted marine turtle monitors in the Sea Turtle Conservation Program at Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) in Pinellas County, Florida hear stories of how beachgoers have “helped” nesting sea turtles to the water without realizing that they are a protected species or that they could have called a permitted organization for assistance. CMA’s goal is to continuously raise awareness about how beachgoers should treat nesting habitat, what to do if and when they encounter nesting females or hatchlings, or how to react if they witness other individuals negatively interact with these threatened and endangered species. The reach of CMA personnel across the 21 miles of beach they currently monitor is limited to a few hours in the day across 11 municipalities. In an effort to enhance the reach of our message to both tourists and residents, and in line with similar projects previously supported by the Sea Turtle Grants Program, CMA will develop and produce different types of educational materials, including metal signs to be installed at beach accesses and informational signage to be applied to all marked sea turtle activities.
Results: All signage has been approved, produced, and either delivered for installation or installed. Beach access signage was purchased on June 22, 2021. The number of signs purchased was reduced from 175 to 148 because the price of both sign types increased with the vendor we chose (Greg Allens Inc.). The quantity of beach access signs was reduced, instead of the nest signs, because we still provided all beach access signs requested by external entities, while still ensuring there were enough nest signs to apply to all marked sites. Nine (9) municipalities and one (1) county park requested beach access signage for their public beach accesses: Belleair Beach; Belleair Shore; Clearwater; Indian Rocks Beach; Indian Shores; Madeira Beach; Redington Beach; Redington Shores; Treasure Island; and Sand Key Park (Pinellas County Park in Clearwater). Nest signage was purchased on June 24, 2021. All signage was received on June 29, 2021. Nest signage was applied to all marked activities by the first week of July. Beach access signage was distributed to the single county park and all municipalities that requested signage by July 29, 2021. Beach access signage has been installed in: Belleair Beach; Belleair Shore; Indian Shores Madeira Beach; Redington Beach; Redington Shores; Treasure Island; and Sand Key Park.