Transcription

1 2012 Annual Report

2 From Our Executive Director This Annual Report summarizes the major programmatic achievements and financial performance of Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) during Founded in 1959, STC is by far the world s oldest sea turtle research and conservation group; the ongoing sea turtle monitoring and recovery programs underway in Costa Rica; Panama; Florida; Bermuda and elsewhere in the Caribbean are among the most successful initiatives of their kind anywhere. Yet even as we celebrate the fruits of our five-decade-long investment in the survival of sea turtles, STC recognizes that new threats to marine turtles and their habitats could undo much of what has been accomplished. As STC looks back at 2012, the organization s 52nd year of operation, there are a number of major milestones to celebrate. In 2012, STC launched the 5th annual Tour de Turtles education program. A dozen turtles were deployed with satellite transmitters from sites around the Caribbean. This fun education program continues to attract national media attention, our list of corporate sponsors continues to grow, turnout by the public at our release events gets stronger each year, and the numbers of people following the event online continues to grow. STC is carrying out an unprecedented campaign to eliminate the problem of artificial beachfront lighting, which disorients and kills thousands of hatchling turtles each year on Florida beaches. STC works with property owners to identify problem lights and then implement light management strategies using the latest turtle-friendly lighting technologies. The program has been wildly successful as each year over 10,000 hatchings that otherwise would have been disoriented by lights are now safely reaching the sea. During 2012, STC launched a program to protect an important leatherback nesting colony at Soropta Beach, Panama. This 8 km stretch of beach on Panama s north Caribbean coast sees about 600 leatherback nests per year; unfortunately, illegal poaching has been a recurring problem at Soropta. The year-round presence of STC staff and volunteers will help reduce this threat and gradually recover this important population of leatherbacks. No group in the world does more to protect and recover sea turtles than Sea Turtle Conservancy. STC uses sound science and a single-minded determination to do absolutely everything in our power to improve the survival outlook for sea turtles. We do it through sustained research and monitoring of globally important nesting and foraging sites; innovative education programs; training of new generations of sea turtle biologists; and direct advocacy on behalf of sea turtles and their habitats. And it s working sea turtle populations are beginning to recover at many of the places STC works. While STC has made great progress in the protection of sea turtles, there are still many challenges to overcome. Illegal poaching of turtles and nests still occurs at unacceptable levels. Sea turtle migratory corridors are under threat from dredging projects and planned port expansions. And in the US, state regulators are trying to undermine hard-fought protections for turtles by weakening beachfront lighting standards and expanding the use of sea walls to fight erosion. Together, with our many members and supporters, STC will continue to address each one of these threats in order to ensure the long-term protection and recovery of sea turtles and their habitats. We have no time to waste! David Godfrey Executive Director Staff U.S. Staff David Godfrey - Executive Director Pat McCloskey - Controller Marydele Donnelly - Director of International Policy Dan Evans - Technology & Research Specialist Gary Appelson - Policy Coordinator Chris Ann Keehner - Development Director Kim Aslan - Office Manager Lexie Beach - Communications Coordinator Becca Gelwicks - Membership Coordinator Karen Shudes - Sea Turtle Lighting Specialist Donna Lee Crawford - Community Stewardship Coordinator Costa Rica Staff Roxana Silman - Costa Rica Director Dr. Emma Harrison - Scientific Director Ralph Pace - Tortuguero Field Coordinator Georgina Quílez - Education Coordinator Randall Torres - Tortuguero Station Manager Indira Torres- Tortuguero Visitor Center Coordinator Maria Laura Castro - San José Office Assistant Panama Staff Cristina Ordoñez - Chiriquí Beach Field Coordinator Genaro Castillo - Field Research Assistant

3 Research and Conservation Programs Programmatic Achievements Through the Tortuguero Sea Turtle Research & Conservation Program, STC recorded more than 27,700 green turtle nests in just the northern 5 miles of Tortuguero beach. Over 170,000 green turtle nests were deposited in 2012 along the full length of Tortuguero beach, making it by far the largest nesting colony of green turtles in the Western Hemisphere, and possibily the world. Through its research and conservation program in Bocas del Toro, Panama, STC documented increases in both leatherback and hawksbill turtle nesting at several project beaches, including Chiriquí Beach, where over 6,200 leatherback nests (second highest on record) and more than 1,070 hawksbill nests (highest number on record) were recorded. Based on data collected by STC since 2003, Chiriquí Beach hosts the fourth largest nesting colony of leatherback tutles in the world and one of the largest colonies of hawksbills remaining in the Caribbean. To facilitate STC s new long-term presence at Soropta Beach, Panana, STC purchased a 35-acre tract of beachfront property, which included a modest compound of buildings suitable for a research station. The new station now hosts locally hired beach surveyors most of whom are members of a nearby indigenous community. Since STC began conducting lighting retrofit projects in late 2010, problem lights at more than 70 properties in Florida have been converted using the latest turtle-friendly technology. Hatchling disorientations at these properties have been reduced to near zero, saving an estimated 10,000 or more hatchlings each nesting season that otherwise would have been disoriented by lights at these properties. As of the start of 2013, STC had retrofitted nearly 80 large, multi-family properties darkening nearly 9 miles of critical nesting habitat To learn more about the migratory patterns of different sea turtle species, STC used satellite transmitters to follow the migrations of the following turtles in 2012: 2 leatherbacks from Chiriquí Beach, Panama; 1 leatherback from Bluff Beach, Panama; 4 loggerheads from the Archie Carr Refuge in Florida; 2 adult green turtles from Playa del Carmen, Mexico; 2 adult green turtles from Tortuguero in Costa Rica; 2 juvenile green turtles from Bermuda; and 1 hawksbill and 1 green sea turtle from Nevis. Data from this tracking research provides critical information about the migratory routes and destinations of these species, which helps STC and other groups direct conservation efforts where they will be most effective Board of Directors Landon T. Clay Board Chairman Laura Forte President Nicholas A. Shufro Treasurer F. Peter Rose Secretary Mario Boza Michael P. Bruyere, Esq. Archie F. Carr, III, Ph.D. Peggy M. Cavanaugh Sing Chan Rick Cleveland William G. Conway, Ph.D. David Ehrenfeld, M.D., Ph.D. Michael Feld H. Clay Frick, III Elise Frick Anthony D. Knerr, Ph.D. Tara MacIntyre Charlie Magal, M.D. Carmel McGill Rafael Morice Jeffrey S. Phipps Chris Rajczi Mark D. Shantzis Jordan Urstadt, Esq.

4 Education Programs STC s most popular education program is the annual Tour de Turtles, an online education event that tracks the migrations of a dozen or more turtles being monitored by satellite. The event, which helps raise broad awareness about sea turtles and the threats they face, is staged as a marathon won by the turtle that travels the farthest over the course of the three-month race. As each turtle is released with its satellite transmitter, STC hosts public kick-off events celebrating the start of the race. In 2012, nearly 3,000 people attended sea turtle releases in Florida, Costa Rica and Nevis. In addition, more than 19,600 people from 113 countries logged on to the Tour de Turtles website in just three months. This includes over 900 new teachers who registered to use the free educational materials provided as part of the Tour de Turtles. In total, over 16,000 teachers are now registered to use STC s education materials in the classroom. Tour de Turtles was featured on CNN, in the Huffington Post, USAToday, and countless local news outlets. In 2012, STC launched the Tour de Turtles Bermuda (Race on the Rock) as an offshoot of the Bermuda Turtle Project, a 44-yearlong in-water study of Bermuda s turtles conducted in partnership between STC and the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo. More recently, the partnership has benefited from the involvement and support of the Bermuda Zoological Society and Bermuda s Department of Conservation Services. The Bermuda Turtle Project is focused on filling in the information gaps on green turtle biology so that successful protection may be given to these species. The Bermuda Turtle Project has assembled important data sets on size and maturity status, growth rates, sex ratios, residency, site fidelity, genetic diversity, and movement patterns in immature green turtles in Bermuda waters. It is the world s longest running in-water sea turtle research program. STC produced a high-definition film titled Tortuguero: Epicenter of Sea Turtle Conservation to raise awareness about the organization s history and role in sea turtle conservation. The film is being shown in the new theater at the Visitors Center located at STC s John H. Phipps Biological Research Station in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. Each year, more than 25,000 tourists stop by the Visitors Center to learn about Tortuguero s sea turtles, and now they can learn the story of STC and sea turtle conservation in a state-of-the art facility with a captivating new video production. Advocacy and Habitat Protection STC donated a boat to Mexico s Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) to assist in protecting marine resources and enforcing environmental regulations in the Gulf of Mexico. PROFEPA is committed to enforcing Mexico s regulations for turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, to ensure that shrimpers do not accidentally drown sea turtles, including endangered Kemp s ridleys. TEDs are inserts for shrimp nets designed to allow trapped turtles to escape. PROFEPA currently conducts most TED enforcement at the dock because its boats are small and personnel are at risk of serious injury when trying to board working vessels. The boat will provide PROFEPA s dedicated personnel with a safe boarding platform and help them ensure Mexican fishermen are using TEDs effectively. STC continued its work addressing impacts to sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, an area that has seen significant increases in turtle deaths linked to commercial fishing activities, especially in skimmer trawls fishing equipment, used primarily in bays and estuaries, that are currently exempt from using TEDs. As a result of a lawsuit by STC and other environmental groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed new protections for sea turtles that would require escape hatches in shrimp nets used by boats that operate in the shallow, inshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico and southeast Atlantic Ocean. The new regulations would close a deadly loophole that allows roughly 28,000 endangered and threatened sea turtles to be caught each year by shrimp boats that are currently not required to use turtle excluder devices, or TEDs.

5 Statistics Membership Total Members - 6,184 New Members - 2,934 Renewals Tortuguero Research Station Museum Visitations - 25,240 Field Researchers Trained - 28 Eco-Volunteers -131 Financial Total Expenses Programs 85% Barrier Island Center Visitors - 26,100 Turtle Walk Participants Volunteer Hours - 3,248 Websites Page Views - 1,684,427 Visits - 595,689 Visitors 429,902 Avg. Daily Visitors - 1,178 E-Communications Subscribers - 11,760 Facebook Fans - 15,605 Twitter Followers - 3,630 Administration 5% Development 10% Tour de Turtles Program Turtles Tracked - 13 Release Countries - 5 New Educators Registered Sea Turtle Grants Program Total Awarded - $309, Education Grants - 5 Research Grants - 8 Conservation Grants - 5 Program Expenses Breakdown Florida Programs $668, % Panama Programs $163, % Barrier Island Center $165, % STC received a 4-star rating for the 8 th consecutive year! Cover photo by Ralph Pace Tortuguero Programs $483, % Lighting, Rehab and Predation Programs $378, % International Programs $133, %

6 Foundation and Corporate Support AIG Matching Grants Foundation Andrea Waitt Carlton Foundation Alachua County Board of Commissioners Altruette Inc Bay & Paul Foundation Boeing Company Body Shop Foundation Casa Tortuga Chemonics Community Foundation for Brevard Community Foundation of North Central Florida Diageo Americas Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Disney s Animal Kingdom Disney s Friends for Change Disney s Vero Beach Resort Dreamcatcher Fund Ecole Travel Edward John Noble Foundation Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation Evans & Tracy Segal Foundation Firedoll Foundation Florida Department of Environmental Protection Four Seasons Resort Nevis Groupo Vidanta Goldman, Sachs & Company Helen Clay Frick Foundation Kerzner International Loggerhead Apparel Margaret A. Cargill Foundation Marisla Foundation Martin Foundation, Inc. Michele & Agnese Cestone Foundation National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Patagonia Prentice Foundation RFQ-Hub RenaissanceRe Ress Family Foundation Riverbanks Society Sea Turtle Grants Program Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay Surf Hardware International USA Turtle Reef Uphill Foundation US Fish & Wildlife Service USFWS Marine Turtle Conservation Fund Walmart World Wildlife Fund Zemurray Foundation Zerner Foundation Archie Carr Fellow ($5,000 & above) Linda & Kenny Antonioli Gladys Cofrin Laura Forte Henry Clay Frick, III Jenny & Jerry Randgaard Tom Randgaard & J Rodin F. Peter Rose Pearl Seidman George Wardman Kemp s Ridley Level ($1,000 - $4,999) Deborah Aguirre Andrew & Marion Barnes Patrica Barry Robert Braddock Sing Chan Landon Clay Rick Cleveland For The Environment, Inc. Wesley & Margret Forte John Galbraith Jenevra Georgini Michael Goodman Laurie Henson Jeanie Kilgour Tom Kubit Carl Kuehner Charles Magal Aubrey McClendon Monique Miller Jeffrey Phipps Susan Place Deborah Poppel Diane Randgaard David Wypij Catherine Bettcher Ruby Blondell Christopher Brawley Michael Brown Peggy & Tom Cavanaugh Coastal Wildlife Club Dr. William Conway Leslie Dalglish Frank & Pam Deavours Brenda DuVal Joseph Cloud Faron Curt & Diane Fuhrmann Hawksbill Level ($500 - $999) Rowan Henson Willie Hinze Maya Howard Ann Walston Joyner Tom & Karen Latsko Nancy Lawton Chris LeSuer Judith Lindquist M J Mason Wayne Mathews Amy & Joseph Morel Paul Nelson Jay Nunes Kimberly Paxton Donna Knox Sefton Ray & Helen Smith Nancy Stegens Keith Tacklyn Bob Walker Kennard Watson Anne Wiley Mark Wolfram