NONPROFIT
Unsung Heroes Hundreds of Topsail Turtle Project volunteers help ensure that Topsail Island’s sea turtle hatchlings make it from sand to sea. BY PAT FONTANA
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It only takes one walk on the beach in the middle of summer to see why Topsail Island is a sea turtle sanctuary. During the height of the season, it’s not unusual to see 100 nests staked out along the dunes, waiting for baby hatchlings to emerge and find their way to their new home in the ocean. Loggerhead turtles love Topsail and come back every few years to lay their eggs here. The task of finding these nests goes to a group of dedicated volunteers known as the Topsail Turtle Project, a division of the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Surf City. While the center does amazing work with sick and injured turtles throughout the year, the Turtle Project volunteers are getting up early, staying up late and watching for signs of new nests and new baby sea turtles throughout the summer months. Starting in May, the group of several hundred volunteers walks all 26 miles of beach on Topsail Island every single day, rain or sun, looking for tracks. The group is led by Terry Meyer, who has been volunteering to help save the sea turtles since 1996 and directing the Turtle Project program since 2000. Meyer is also the point person for people who find stranded turtles and is responsible for
Topsail Turtle Project volunteers Terry Meyer, Vicki Schroeck, Marie Palmer, Connie Pletl and Pam Kosar working at a nest on North Topsail Beach.
Summer 2022
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