Grant: 16-027E
Project Title: SFM Sea Turtle Conservation Exhibit
Project Manager: Ashley Berridge
Organization: South Florida Museum (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $5,000.00
Completion Date: 2019-03-05
Summary: To develop an educational exhibit that will inform and inspire people to behave responsibly on and around area beaches and care about sea turtles. This exhibit will contain four main categories, turtle life cycles, conservation, why the need for conservation and how they can help.
Results: The South Florida Museum has created a new exhibit in the Aquarium that shows the ecosystem connections that sea turtles share and highlights how the public can help sea turtles — which are federally listed as threatened or endangered species — grow from egg to adulthood. The exhibit — Being a Sea Turtle is Hard — But You Can Help! — features life-size scientific illustrations of the five sea turtle species that call the Gulf of Mexico home, along with the skeleton of a loggerhead sea turtle — which is the most common sea turtle species on Florida’s west coast. It also highlights information about loggerhead nesting on Anna Maria Island as monitored by the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, with running totals of false crawls and nests laid during nesting season, which takes place from May through October, and shows the public how they can make a difference in the lives of these animals.