Before I started here there were all these mixed sentiments about being an unpaid intern. When I talked to people I would get the response, "oh man, that sucks," from anyone who I talked to. It does suck to not have money; it also sucks to not have sea turtles.
Another response I would get would be, "Wow, do you get to swim with the sea turtles?!" Unfortunately, human idiocy—creation of plastics, dependency on fossil fuels, unsustainable fishing, coastal development—has caused all seven species of sea turtles severe population decline. So no, I don't get to swim with sea turtles because we've nearly killed them all. Thank you.
The first thing I've learned at STRP is every little thing you do makes a difference. I sat here in the office the other day stuffing hundreds of hundreds of envelopes of mailers to send to people who had recently donated. Sure, it did suck, and now I have an aching wrist, but you know what? That means hundreds of hundreds of people donated to this cause. And that means that STRP has funding for projects like beach patrols along our coasts, producing documentaries, and public education activities. Which means more awareness, which equals more conservation, which is good.
So far, so good with my first week here at the office. Basically this blog is to communicate the steps that I have taken in order to take better care of our oceans, document my work at STRP, provide updates on the state of our oceans, and ideally inspire awareness in others.
I like your blog. You may want to consider posting on your blog where the STRP is located, and a something about the types of turtles and what there habits are. I remember seeing a nature program that talked about the migration of the sea turtles and is was quite fascinating as well as daunting for the turtle. Keep up the good work.
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