Grant: 23-008E
Project Title: Displays at the Barrier Island Center telling the interconnecting stories of Doc Ehrhart, his students, sea turtles and the Carr Refuge.
Project Manager: Nichole Perna
Organization: Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program (Florida Government)
Grant Amount: $5,800.00
Completion Date: 2024-06-21
Summary: This project will create outside displays at Brevard County's Barrier Island Center. Messaging in the displays will be crafted to build a constituency of informed support for Florida's sea turtles and for the Carr Refuge. The displays will feature contributions of Llewellyn "Doc" Ehrhart (1942-2022), a UCF professor, vertebrate zoologist, sea turtle researcher, and prominent local conservationist. Doc's recorded nest counts from detailed surveys described a hotspot for nesting loggerhead sea turtles in southern Brevard, and his research on the water described a little-known population of juvenile sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon. In addition to diligent sea turtle research, Doc shared data and information with important decision makers. This conservation science and diplomacy guided and motivated the establishment of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. The displays will address how land managers knew where to establish a sea turtle refuge and what role influential sea turtle conservationists play in key actions to save sea turtles. This project comprises two outside displays. One panel would be added to three existing panels of the same size at the front of the Center's entrance way and will feature the role of Doc and his students in the earliest Brevard sea turtle nesting surveys, and his connection to Archie Carr. A second display would be an exhibit featuring the net buoys and netting used by Doc Ehrhart and his students to capture and tag sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon (Lagoon Turtle Exhibit).
Results: We researched, designed, printed and installed the 3 Lagoon Turtle Research panels and the Doc Ehrhart Orientation panel. We designed a 10X20ft platform for the Lagoon Turtle Research exhibit to mount to. We obtained State permits to build the structure, but unfortunately, after several months of trying we were unable to get the County permits to build the platform. We instead modified the existing deck at the Barrier Island Center to attach the lagoon research panels as well as the floats and ropes from UCF netting work. We installed the new Orientation panel using stainless steel hardware next to the Carr Refuge Panel on the front of the Barrier Island Center. We installed three marine grade poles to erect the shade sail over the new Lagoon Turtle exhibit. We purchased and mounted a dock box to store outreach educational materials for the new Lagoon Turtle Research exhibit.