Lots of my friends are volunteers in the Share the Beach sea turtle conservation program. They get up early in the morning and patrol the beach looking for and marking sea turtle nests during the nesting season of May through October. I haven't yet found a way to fit this into my schedule but I admire the hundreds of volunteers from Orange Beach to Dauphin Island who do so.
Now there is a way for all Alabama residents to contribute monetarily to the Share the Beach program by buying a new
specialized vehicle license plate. There is actually a sense of urgency to pre-register for the tag because there must be 1,000 commitments before the tag will be given final approval. Simply go to your license office and complete a commitment form and pay the $50 specialty license plate fee, in other words don't wait for your tag renewal time to help the sea turtles.
Out of the $50 approximately $43 will go directly to Share the Beach for equipment, supplies and educational materials. Speaking of turtle education, I learned that two of the world's seven sea turtle species come ashore in Alabama to nest. Loggerhead visits are frequent and rarely we get Kemp's Ridley turtles nesting here. The educational efforts include informing coastal visitors to turn out lights at the beach so that the newly hatched turtle babies don't get confused on their trek to the Gulf waters. Learn more
here about these turtles and how you can increase their chances for survival.
These photos were taken at the 6-bedroom Meyer Vacation Rental house
Windswept a couple of summers ago and you never know where these precious mama turtles will choose to build their nests.
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