August 4, 2025 • 20 mins
Meet Kendra Bergman, marine biologist and founder of Coastal Connections, who's passionate about protecting the endangered sea turtles of Vero Beach.
From a chance childhood encounter with a green turtle in Hawaii to establishing a thriving conservation organization, Kendra's journey reveals how dedication and community involvement can create remarkable change. She shares the incredible success story of green turtles on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, where annual nests have exploded from just 50 to an astonishing 20,000 in recent decades.
Discover why sea turtles are essential keystone species. Their unique biology creates connections between ocean ecosystems and land habitats that countless other species depend on. These ancient mariners, which take 20-25 years to reach reproductive maturity, transport nutrients across oceans, fertilize dune systems with nitrogen, and provide critical food sources for commercially important fish.
What began as a grassroots effort has transformed into an organization with dedicated volunteers responding to sea turtle emergencies throughout Indian River County. Kendra emphasizes that conservation success happens when individual actions multiply across an entire community. When everyone makes small changes, the collective impact becomes tremendous.
Be sure to join us for part two as we dive deeper into sea turtle conservation, exploring the meaning behind those colored ribbons marking nests on our beaches and learning more about how you can participate in protecting these magnificent creatures for generations to come. Have you spotted a sea turtle during your beach visit? Share your experience in the comments!
Presented by Killer Bee Marketing
Helping local businesses in Vero Beach connect with their neighbors.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian (00:00):
Welcome back to the Vero Beach Podcast.
Today we are sitting withKendra Bergman from the Coastal
Connections.
We're excited to have you onthe podcast with us.
Kendra (00:08):
It's exciting to be here .
I'm so pumped and ready.
Shawna (00:11):
I know we're gonna talk about sea turtles.
Brian (00:13):
Yeah, shauna's been waiting.
Linda from Coconut Casita saidyou guys need to reach out to
Coastal Connections.
We've been out at the beach.
We've seen some of this stuffaround that which we're going to
talk about later in thisepisode.
But yeah, sean was like youneed to reach out to them.
We've been so backed up I'mlike we're going to reach out,
so we're so glad that we're heretoday.
And trust me we will talk aboutsea turtles quite a lot, well,
(00:35):
so right now we're sitting.
If nobody's been here before,we're actually at, this is your
office space.
Kendra (00:40):
Is that correct?
Yeah, yeah, we are sitting inour office over here at
Riverside, right above thetackle shop here, and it's a
small cozy but very productivespace.
Let me tell you.
Brian (00:49):
So we just rented a boat for our vacation like one of
those pontoon boats, and we'relike we got to find where that
place is that we just rentedfrom and it's the place right
below.
Kendra (00:58):
Oh yeah, I was going to immediately.
When you said renting a pontoon, I was like there's only so
many spots.
All right, Kendra, it's greatto meet you.
Can you take about 30 secondsand tell us a little bit about
yourself?
I'm actually a Texas native.
I moved to Florida when Istarted college and never left.
My background is in marinebiology.
I have a master's degree inconservation efforts, kind of
(01:19):
wrapped around sea turtles.
I really focus on studying thesea turtles and how people
influence the conservationefforts of sea turtles around
one of our most precious naturalresources or gems here, which
is the Archicard NationalWildlife Refuge, and so that's
kind of what brought me hereafter school to Vero.
I moved here right after Ifinished graduate school and
(01:42):
this has been my home for thelast 10 years.
Roots are placed and this is it.
We love it here in Bureau.
Brian (01:51):
I would love for you to kind of just maybe explain to us
what conservation means as well, for anybody who's listening.
Kendra (01:54):
Oh yeah, conservation is really focused on conserving or
protecting either a type ofwildlife or a plant animal you
name, it doesn't matterecosystem, whatever that focus
is, but the ultimate goal is tomake sure that that resource
that you're talking about isprotected and available for
(02:15):
generations to come.
So kind of on that level.
Even the word sustainabilityright, sustainable You're pretty
much just making sure that itcan exist and it's thriving.
So we're focused at CoastalConnections, on conserving our
sea turtles or protecting oursea turtles.
Because they are listed on theEndangered Species Act.
They have been on that listsince the beginning, so since
(02:38):
the 1970s, early 1970s andbecause sea turtles take so long
to reproduce, they actuallytake longer than some humans do,
typically about 20 to 25 yearsfor reproduction for the very
first time.
So it's a lot of time.
You kind of have to make it outthere in the wild Because it
takes so long.
(02:59):
They have to be listed on theEndangered Species Act for a
long time.
Right, they need protectionsfor a long time.
They need care and thoughtfulmanagement, because our ultimate
goal is to make sure that allof our sea turtle species are
healthy, functioning and livingwildly out in the oceans, our
lagoon, utilizing our beachesfor nesting all of these
(03:19):
different things.
That's really what we'refocused on is making sure that
we're part of that recoverystory and really bringing you in
on it.
So have you heard of PalmIsland?
It's by Englewood, florida.
When you say Palm Island, Ilike naturally think about the
UAE, where they like makeislands in the shapes of palms.
Shawna (03:37):
But I don't think that's what you're talking about.
Brian (03:39):
That's great.
I'm sure you're going to saywords to me that I'm going to be
like.
Well, when you say that, I'mthinking this so we were on
vacation one year at Palm Islandand we did a bicycle, a bike
ride on the beach, you know.
So it was the first time we didit.
It was a couple's vacation, agreat time and we came across
this turtle shell that wasprobably four feet long and it
(04:00):
was up on the beach shore and Ilifted it up and there was, like
a skeleton, I guess bonesunderneath it.
Kendra (04:10):
Well, they had like a little museum, so I hadn't, I
had no idea.
So please just understand thisis out of ignorance.
Brian (04:13):
So I grabbed that turtle shell and I was like we're going
to take it to that littlemuseum on the beach because they
might want this.
So we've got a video andpictures of me First.
Kendra (04:21):
I have me standing next to it how big that show was, and
then I rode that bicycleholding that show of one hand
and it stunk.
Brian (04:32):
Oh yeah, it was very decomposing turtle.
We rode it all the way back tothe museum.
Of course they were closed, sowe left it at their doorstep.
We came back like people theydidn't know better the next day
and said hey, did you guys getthe turtle shell that we found
and brought and laid on yourporch?
Kendra (04:44):
I'm sure their eyes were wide.
They were wide.
Brian (04:47):
They're like yeah, you're not allowed to touch those.
Maybe you can explain why theydo that.
But they put it there for it tokind of decompose.
Shawna (04:54):
Yeah, they said they kept trying to rebury it and
then it kept making its way backto them.
Brian (04:59):
Yes.
Shawna (04:59):
And they were like for future reference do not touch a
turtle shell.
Kendra (05:04):
So what they're doing is they were actually letting all
of the fatty tissues andcartilage decompose and let
nature so ants, bugs, critters,fungus, you name it kind of eat
away at that.
So what was left is the shellthat they can actually preserve
and use for education andoutreach.
Yeah, so they had to get allthe ugly, nasty, smelly stuff
(05:25):
out and done, because it was areally good looking shell.
Brian (05:28):
It was very good If it wasn't, you wouldn't have
touched it.
Kendra (05:32):
Yeah, and so they're just going to use that for kids
activities?
We actually have shells likethat here in our office that we
use for our school educationprograms, so kids can wear a
turtle shell and really see whatit's like to be a turtle as
part of their activities.
Brian (05:47):
Okay, See, they didn't explain that to us.
They did tell us do not touchany turtle shells, it is illegal
, and I'm like I had no idea.
Kendra (05:55):
But it's like all right and they're not wrong.
I will say here, at CoastalConnections, our approach is a
little bit different.
The end result is exactly thesame, but we might say it a
little bit different when we'retrying to explain why we ask you
not to do that?
Brian (06:11):
Yeah, thanks for answering that question.
Kendra (06:13):
That helps clarify yourself.
Brian (06:15):
to me, oh great, that means.
Kendra (06:16):
I can answer a bunch of questions.
Probably a loggerhead turtlesounds.
I mean just the size of italone and the location.
I can promise you it's probablya loggerhead.
Brian (06:24):
So what drew you to this type of work?
Kendra (06:26):
To be honest, my origin story with sea turtles really
goes back to when I was ineighth grade on a family
vacation out in Hawaii.
I was right offshore snorkeling.
If you've ever been to Hawaiior heard about it, there's just
reefs right there and it's juststunning.
And so I'm just out snorkelingand this green turtle just swims
(06:46):
right up to me, stares at meand is like okay, bye, and just
turns around and majesticallyswims away and I'm like I like
you.
That's I like you and my mom.
I grew up with a mom who loveddolphins.
A lot of our vacations werealways beaches or, you know,
going to meet show dolphins likeFlipper, if you remember that
(07:07):
famous character.
I've interacted with quite a fewdolphins in my life and so I
didn't want to do exactly whatmy mom loved.
I wanted to be a littledifferent, so she liked dolphins
, so I picked turtles.
I did go to college for marinebiology and just I'm the one
percent that are kind of alreadyknew what I wanted to do and I
just stuck with it.
I know that I'm the oddball ofthe world and that's probably
(07:29):
why I do so well with thisorganization, because I'm still
an oddball.
Shawna (07:34):
We like to call those unicorns.
You're a unicorn Bark.
We like to call those unicorns.
Kendra (07:38):
You're a unicorn, barkley poop and all.
Brian (07:40):
I know that we love sea turtles.
I don't think we've ever seenone on the shore yet.
We've only seen them like we'veseen them out in the water
right now.
We've seen a lot of them, likeover at Golden Sand.
Is that right?
We've seen a lot of themsticking their heads up over the
water.
Kendra (07:52):
Yeah, our green turtles are mating at the moment, so
we've been getting a lot ofwe're.
We're then our organization forIndian river County, florida,
which is where Vero beaches.
We are the primary rescueresponding group for turtles.
So we have done a lot of workreally doing outreach and
getting people to know hey, ifyou see a sick or injured or
(08:14):
distressed turtle, call us, likewe will go get some eyes on it.
We'll get a rescue responderout there and transport it to a
rehab facility if it needs it.
So part of the conservationsuccess story that I mentioned,
that we're working towards andwe're trying to involve everyone
in, is kind of just happeningright now, especially with our
green turtle species.
(08:35):
So green turtles were extremelyrare in Florida back in the
early 80s and early 90s.
Based on some historic datacollected by the UCF or
University of Central FloridaMarine Turtle Research Group out
on the Archie Carr NationalWildlife Refuge, you know they
might have had 30, 40, at max 50green turtle nests in an entire
(08:57):
year on that large refuge.
They now get 20,000.
And it's an absolutelyincredible story to see that
happen.
And so even just five, sixyears ago we weren't seeing
these mating pairs offshore andnow we are all of a sudden and
we're seeing them so much.
We get calls almost every dayfrom people going.
(09:19):
I think I see a turtle.
It's floating.
It looks like it's in distress.
I'm like, can you make surethere's not another head?
Because I promise you that'snot distress.
It's a new approach with peoplebecause, again, that was not a
common conversation just a fewyears ago, which is really neat.
Shawna (09:43):
I just saw a post a couple of days ago and it was a
picture of a mating green turtlepair and I mean it does look
like something's wrong.
Kendra (09:46):
It does, yeah, and you know I'm not going to complain
when people call it.
You know we joke about it everytime they call, but it's not.
I'm so excited to know that ourcommunity finally realizes hey,
there's a place to go to, thereare people who specialize in
this and they know what they'relooking at.
And so I'm so excited to knowthat our community has kind of
accepted us as a keystone in thecommunity.
Brian (10:10):
So I got another funny story for you.
It was on a family vacationwith Shana's side of her family.
We'd always go over toClearwater and it was one year
we were out there.
It was the evening walk.
People were out walking, it wasdark.
Shawna (10:21):
This lady runs up with her cell phone flashlight on her
two dogs on leashes.
She's like my dog got thisturtle egg.
I can't do anything about itbecause they're going to dig up
more.
So take this and find a placeto put it.
And she runs off, literallyjust runs down the beach.
We had no idea what to do.
We're like let's go home andGoogle it.
Maybe we can find out.
And I feel this ridge, thisperfect plastic ridge all the
(10:43):
way around.
Kendra (10:44):
This sounds like a data logger.
Shawna (10:46):
It was a ping pong ball.
It was a ping pong ball.
So then we felt so dumb andwe're like did this lady just
punk us?
Brian (10:53):
But you think it might be a data logger.
Shawna (10:54):
You think?
Brian (10:55):
it might be an egg, no, I think a data logger.
Kendra (10:57):
So there's actual, really cool new technologies
where scientists, depending onwhat they're studying, they can
get these neat data loggers thatlook like eggs and put them
into the clutch to collect dataduring the incubation of that
clutch whether it's temperaturedata, moisture data, movement,
sound, all sorts of stuff.
So sometimes they'll actuallylook like the actual egg.
We're going to have to look upwhat a data logger is movement,
(11:18):
sound, all sorts of stuff, wow.
Brian (11:18):
so sometimes they'll actually look like the actual
egg we're gonna have to look upwhat a data logger looks like
well there's tons of them.
Kendra (11:25):
you know other parts of the world not in the United
States there is still a legaltrade of cetral eggs, and so, um
, there are other studies thatactually use fake eggs that are
computers, and they track thetrade of those eggs because
they'll be in the clutch ofwhatever eggs are being sold,
and so they can find blackmarket buyers.
Brian (11:48):
That's cool.
Listen, I am not stealing eggsand picking up turtle shells
everywhere, like you're paintinga bad picture of me here.
That's not here where, likeyou're painting a bad picture of
me here.
Kendra (11:59):
That's not here.
Luckily, that's not really amajor concern here in the United
States.
I think we, as you know,Floridians have really kind of
taken sea turtles under our wingas our own responsibility to
protect, which is really cool.
We're pretty protective of them.
Brian (12:15):
Well, I was reading on your I believe it was on your
site.
I was reading about how seaturtles are essential to the
marine ecosystem.
Kendra (12:21):
Can you?
Brian (12:22):
explain a little bit about that.
Kendra (12:23):
Yeah, that's great, I think.
During our public presentations, we always called this the so
what, who cares?
Section.
You know, and that is seaturtles.
Okay, what happens if theydisappear?
What's the big deal?
Why do we spend so much time,energy, financial resources on
protecting a species?
Well, turns out, studies haveshown us that sea turtles are
(12:45):
considered a keystone species.
So what that means is, if youwere to remove that species from
the ultimate ecosystem or thefood chain itself, there would
be a collapse.
And so why that happens withsea turtles and why they're so
critical one?
They're highly migratory, sowhen they move, they actually
carry the critters and thebacteria and all of the
(13:07):
microscopic organisms that areliving on their shell.
They take them with them, andwhen they reef hop, they feed
tons and tons of fish or theymix nutrients within those reefs
as well to keep them viable.
Our coral reefs and our reefsin general are critically
important for commercial fishing, for recreation, tourism, you
(13:29):
name it.
Tons of industries that are noteven, you know, just an
ecosystem thriving situation.
And so they're not only feedingfish and other critters,
they're migrating, mixing thosenutrients across the ocean
waters, through the thousandsand thousands of miles they
might travel.
And then the other cool part isthey actually are one of the
very few species in the entireworld that move from water to
(13:52):
land right, thinking of that,because their nesting occurs on
dry land, while the rest of the99% of their life is spent out
in salty water.
And so when that happens andthey lay those eggs not every
egg hatches, if somethingdoesn't hatch, like that dead
turtle that was decomposing onyour beach at Palm Island, not
my beach when things decompose,they create nitrogen.
(14:16):
Well, a plant's favorite foodis nitrogen, and so they're
naturally fertilizing the dunes.
That would be your naturalfirst line of protection from
storms climate change, you nameit and so it's really important
to have vegetated dunes, oursandy dunes, so that that sand
can protect all of ourstructures that we've decided to
(14:36):
build in these coastalcommunities.
So there's tons of differentways that you know, and I hate
to say this.
My last little bit thehatchlings that do make it maybe
only one in a thousand willactually make it to adulthood.
Those hatchlings we've foundare extremely important for
commercial fish you like to eat,and that's a critical food
(14:57):
source for a segment of thatfish's year.
Shawna (15:00):
Was there a moment that made you feel this is exactly
where I need to be and what Ineed to be doing?
Kendra (15:05):
I wouldn't say that that feeling was that warm and fuzzy
.
I have a scientist brain, soyou know data, numbers, results.
That really is what drives mydecision making, not so much
emotions.
So when I first moved to Vero,I had a job in the local county
environmental management group.
At the time it was called theCoastal Division.
(15:26):
It's changed and evolved overtime.
There was a time when I waslike I'm county staff.
I'm the only sea turtle expertwho lives and works in this
entire county and we.
Our entire county is just southand actually includes part of
the National Wildlife Refuge,the Archicar Refuge, which is
the most important space fornesting sea turtles in the state
of Florida and the UnitedStates.
(15:47):
It's right here in our backyard.
Shawna (15:49):
We saw that sign.
Remember the?
And it shows the map.
Kendra (15:51):
Yeah, we just found out about that and it's it's a very
unique refuge, but it is, infact, the most important nesting
ground for nesting turtles herein the United States.
And I was here and I was likethere's not a group working
together On sea turtleconservation here, like there's
myself and a couple ofvolunteers that are volunteering
for the county government.
We need to be doing more, andso that's where the organization
(16:14):
got started.
It was a labor of love onweekends and nights, tons and
tons of volunteer hours betweenmyself and a few core
individuals in this communitywho are still with the
organization today.
Oh, that's awesome, and webuilt it from the ground up,
grassroots, just knowing thatsea turtles need to be protected
.
People need to love them justas much as we do and be just as
(16:37):
connected and emotionally drivenby them to make good choices.
We're now eight years old hereat Coastal Connections and we've
evolved, but the community hasevolved with it.
Their love and passion hasgrown just as much as the
organization.
Their involvement from thecommunity has grown through
volunteerism just as much as theorganization, and it's been
(16:59):
really exciting to see how ourlessons that we like to teach
you know, one movement or onebehavior or one action may only
seem small to you, but ifeveryone in this community is
doing it, it's no longer small.
Yeah, how many people do youhave that volunteer with you?
So we have two different typesof volunteer opportunities, so
what we call our programvolunteers.
They're onboarded, they'retrained, they're scheduled.
(17:22):
There's about 150.
And then community volunteersare people from our community
who show up to you know eventsthat they're available to
participate in.
We probably interact with 2,000or more of them a year.
Wow.
Brian (17:36):
Well, this has been a great first episode.
Kendra, I was going to let youask another question, but I
think we're going to wait toepisode two.
We're going to dive into thebehind the scenes and I'll just
give you like a little bit ofheads up.
Before we go there, we're goingto ask you if there's some kind
of meaning behind the differentcolored ribbons that we've seen
around the Nessings.
So we'll get there.
We'll get there and, for thoseof you that are tuned in, if you
enjoyed this episode, make sureyou click that subscribe and
(17:58):
leave us a review and with that,catch you next time neighbor.
Welcome back to the Vero Beach Podcast.
Today we are sitting withKendra Bergman from the Coastal
Connections.
We're excited to have you onthe podcast with us.
Kendra (00:08):
It's exciting to be here .
I'm so pumped and ready.
Shawna (00:11):
I know we're gonna talk about sea turtles.
Brian (00:13):
Yeah, shauna's been waiting.
Linda from Coconut Casita saidyou guys need to reach out to
Coastal Connections.
We've been out at the beach.
We've seen some of this stuffaround that which we're going to
talk about later in thisepisode.
But yeah, sean was like youneed to reach out to them.
We've been so backed up I'mlike we're going to reach out,
so we're so glad that we're heretoday.
And trust me we will talk aboutsea turtles quite a lot, well,
(00:35):
so right now we're sitting.
If nobody's been here before,we're actually at, this is your
office space.
Kendra (00:40):
Is that correct?
Yeah, yeah, we are sitting inour office over here at
Riverside, right above thetackle shop here, and it's a
small cozy but very productivespace.
Let me tell you.
Brian (00:49):
So we just rented a boat for our vacation like one of
those pontoon boats, and we'relike we got to find where that
place is that we just rentedfrom and it's the place right
below.
Kendra (00:58):
Oh yeah, I was going to immediately.
When you said renting a pontoon, I was like there's only so
many spots.
All right, Kendra, it's greatto meet you.
Can you take about 30 secondsand tell us a little bit about
yourself?
I'm actually a Texas native.
I moved to Florida when Istarted college and never left.
My background is in marinebiology.
I have a master's degree inconservation efforts, kind of
(01:19):
wrapped around sea turtles.
I really focus on studying thesea turtles and how people
influence the conservationefforts of sea turtles around
one of our most precious naturalresources or gems here, which
is the Archicard NationalWildlife Refuge, and so that's
kind of what brought me hereafter school to Vero.
I moved here right after Ifinished graduate school and
(01:42):
this has been my home for thelast 10 years.
Roots are placed and this is it.
We love it here in Bureau.
Brian (01:51):
I would love for you to kind of just maybe explain to us
what conservation means as well, for anybody who's listening.
Kendra (01:54):
Oh yeah, conservation is really focused on conserving or
protecting either a type ofwildlife or a plant animal you
name, it doesn't matterecosystem, whatever that focus
is, but the ultimate goal is tomake sure that that resource
that you're talking about isprotected and available for
(02:15):
generations to come.
So kind of on that level.
Even the word sustainabilityright, sustainable You're pretty
much just making sure that itcan exist and it's thriving.
So we're focused at CoastalConnections, on conserving our
sea turtles or protecting oursea turtles.
Because they are listed on theEndangered Species Act.
They have been on that listsince the beginning, so since
(02:38):
the 1970s, early 1970s andbecause sea turtles take so long
to reproduce, they actuallytake longer than some humans do,
typically about 20 to 25 yearsfor reproduction for the very
first time.
So it's a lot of time.
You kind of have to make it outthere in the wild Because it
takes so long.
(02:59):
They have to be listed on theEndangered Species Act for a
long time.
Right, they need protectionsfor a long time.
They need care and thoughtfulmanagement, because our ultimate
goal is to make sure that allof our sea turtle species are
healthy, functioning and livingwildly out in the oceans, our
lagoon, utilizing our beachesfor nesting all of these
(03:19):
different things.
That's really what we'refocused on is making sure that
we're part of that recoverystory and really bringing you in
on it.
So have you heard of PalmIsland?
It's by Englewood, florida.
When you say Palm Island, Ilike naturally think about the
UAE, where they like makeislands in the shapes of palms.
Shawna (03:37):
But I don't think that's what you're talking about.
Brian (03:39):
That's great.
I'm sure you're going to saywords to me that I'm going to be
like.
Well, when you say that, I'mthinking this so we were on
vacation one year at Palm Islandand we did a bicycle, a bike
ride on the beach, you know.
So it was the first time we didit.
It was a couple's vacation, agreat time and we came across
this turtle shell that wasprobably four feet long and it
(04:00):
was up on the beach shore and Ilifted it up and there was, like
a skeleton, I guess bonesunderneath it.
Kendra (04:10):
Well, they had like a little museum, so I hadn't, I
had no idea.
So please just understand thisis out of ignorance.
Brian (04:13):
So I grabbed that turtle shell and I was like we're going
to take it to that littlemuseum on the beach because they
might want this.
So we've got a video andpictures of me First.
Kendra (04:21):
I have me standing next to it how big that show was, and
then I rode that bicycleholding that show of one hand
and it stunk.
Brian (04:32):
Oh yeah, it was very decomposing turtle.
We rode it all the way back tothe museum.
Of course they were closed, sowe left it at their doorstep.
We came back like people theydidn't know better the next day
and said hey, did you guys getthe turtle shell that we found
and brought and laid on yourporch?
Kendra (04:44):
I'm sure their eyes were wide.
They were wide.
Brian (04:47):
They're like yeah, you're not allowed to touch those.
Maybe you can explain why theydo that.
But they put it there for it tokind of decompose.
Shawna (04:54):
Yeah, they said they kept trying to rebury it and
then it kept making its way backto them.
Brian (04:59):
Yes.
Shawna (04:59):
And they were like for future reference do not touch a
turtle shell.
Kendra (05:04):
So what they're doing is they were actually letting all
of the fatty tissues andcartilage decompose and let
nature so ants, bugs, critters,fungus, you name it kind of eat
away at that.
So what was left is the shellthat they can actually preserve
and use for education andoutreach.
Yeah, so they had to get allthe ugly, nasty, smelly stuff
(05:25):
out and done, because it was areally good looking shell.
Brian (05:28):
It was very good If it wasn't, you wouldn't have
touched it.
Kendra (05:32):
Yeah, and so they're just going to use that for kids
activities?
We actually have shells likethat here in our office that we
use for our school educationprograms, so kids can wear a
turtle shell and really see whatit's like to be a turtle as
part of their activities.
Brian (05:47):
Okay, See, they didn't explain that to us.
They did tell us do not touchany turtle shells, it is illegal
, and I'm like I had no idea.
Kendra (05:55):
But it's like all right and they're not wrong.
I will say here, at CoastalConnections, our approach is a
little bit different.
The end result is exactly thesame, but we might say it a
little bit different when we'retrying to explain why we ask you
not to do that?
Brian (06:11):
Yeah, thanks for answering that question.
Kendra (06:13):
That helps clarify yourself.
Brian (06:15):
to me, oh great, that means.
Kendra (06:16):
I can answer a bunch of questions.
Probably a loggerhead turtlesounds.
I mean just the size of italone and the location.
I can promise you it's probablya loggerhead.
Brian (06:24):
So what drew you to this type of work?
Kendra (06:26):
To be honest, my origin story with sea turtles really
goes back to when I was ineighth grade on a family
vacation out in Hawaii.
I was right offshore snorkeling.
If you've ever been to Hawaiior heard about it, there's just
reefs right there and it's juststunning.
And so I'm just out snorkelingand this green turtle just swims
(06:46):
right up to me, stares at meand is like okay, bye, and just
turns around and majesticallyswims away and I'm like I like
you.
That's I like you and my mom.
I grew up with a mom who loveddolphins.
A lot of our vacations werealways beaches or, you know,
going to meet show dolphins likeFlipper, if you remember that
(07:07):
famous character.
I've interacted with quite a fewdolphins in my life and so I
didn't want to do exactly whatmy mom loved.
I wanted to be a littledifferent, so she liked dolphins
, so I picked turtles.
I did go to college for marinebiology and just I'm the one
percent that are kind of alreadyknew what I wanted to do and I
just stuck with it.
I know that I'm the oddball ofthe world and that's probably
(07:29):
why I do so well with thisorganization, because I'm still
an oddball.
Shawna (07:34):
We like to call those unicorns.
You're a unicorn Bark.
We like to call those unicorns.
Kendra (07:38):
You're a unicorn, barkley poop and all.
Brian (07:40):
I know that we love sea turtles.
I don't think we've ever seenone on the shore yet.
We've only seen them like we'veseen them out in the water
right now.
We've seen a lot of them, likeover at Golden Sand.
Is that right?
We've seen a lot of themsticking their heads up over the
water.
Kendra (07:52):
Yeah, our green turtles are mating at the moment, so
we've been getting a lot ofwe're.
We're then our organization forIndian river County, florida,
which is where Vero beaches.
We are the primary rescueresponding group for turtles.
So we have done a lot of workreally doing outreach and
getting people to know hey, ifyou see a sick or injured or
(08:14):
distressed turtle, call us, likewe will go get some eyes on it.
We'll get a rescue responderout there and transport it to a
rehab facility if it needs it.
So part of the conservationsuccess story that I mentioned,
that we're working towards andwe're trying to involve everyone
in, is kind of just happeningright now, especially with our
green turtle species.
(08:35):
So green turtles were extremelyrare in Florida back in the
early 80s and early 90s.
Based on some historic datacollected by the UCF or
University of Central FloridaMarine Turtle Research Group out
on the Archie Carr NationalWildlife Refuge, you know they
might have had 30, 40, at max 50green turtle nests in an entire
(08:57):
year on that large refuge.
They now get 20,000.
And it's an absolutelyincredible story to see that
happen.
And so even just five, sixyears ago we weren't seeing
these mating pairs offshore andnow we are all of a sudden and
we're seeing them so much.
We get calls almost every dayfrom people going.
(09:19):
I think I see a turtle.
It's floating.
It looks like it's in distress.
I'm like, can you make surethere's not another head?
Because I promise you that'snot distress.
It's a new approach with peoplebecause, again, that was not a
common conversation just a fewyears ago, which is really neat.
Shawna (09:43):
I just saw a post a couple of days ago and it was a
picture of a mating green turtlepair and I mean it does look
like something's wrong.
Kendra (09:46):
It does, yeah, and you know I'm not going to complain
when people call it.
You know we joke about it everytime they call, but it's not.
I'm so excited to know that ourcommunity finally realizes hey,
there's a place to go to, thereare people who specialize in
this and they know what they'relooking at.
And so I'm so excited to knowthat our community has kind of
accepted us as a keystone in thecommunity.
Brian (10:10):
So I got another funny story for you.
It was on a family vacationwith Shana's side of her family.
We'd always go over toClearwater and it was one year
we were out there.
It was the evening walk.
People were out walking, it wasdark.
Shawna (10:21):
This lady runs up with her cell phone flashlight on her
two dogs on leashes.
She's like my dog got thisturtle egg.
I can't do anything about itbecause they're going to dig up
more.
So take this and find a placeto put it.
And she runs off, literallyjust runs down the beach.
We had no idea what to do.
We're like let's go home andGoogle it.
Maybe we can find out.
And I feel this ridge, thisperfect plastic ridge all the
(10:43):
way around.
Kendra (10:44):
This sounds like a data logger.
Shawna (10:46):
It was a ping pong ball.
It was a ping pong ball.
So then we felt so dumb andwe're like did this lady just
punk us?
Brian (10:53):
But you think it might be a data logger.
Shawna (10:54):
You think?
Brian (10:55):
it might be an egg, no, I think a data logger.
Kendra (10:57):
So there's actual, really cool new technologies
where scientists, depending onwhat they're studying, they can
get these neat data loggers thatlook like eggs and put them
into the clutch to collect dataduring the incubation of that
clutch whether it's temperaturedata, moisture data, movement,
sound, all sorts of stuff.
So sometimes they'll actuallylook like the actual egg.
We're going to have to look upwhat a data logger is movement,
(11:18):
sound, all sorts of stuff, wow.
Brian (11:18):
so sometimes they'll actually look like the actual
egg we're gonna have to look upwhat a data logger looks like
well there's tons of them.
Kendra (11:25):
you know other parts of the world not in the United
States there is still a legaltrade of cetral eggs, and so, um
, there are other studies thatactually use fake eggs that are
computers, and they track thetrade of those eggs because
they'll be in the clutch ofwhatever eggs are being sold,
and so they can find blackmarket buyers.
Brian (11:48):
That's cool.
Listen, I am not stealing eggsand picking up turtle shells
everywhere, like you're paintinga bad picture of me here.
That's not here where, likeyou're painting a bad picture of
me here.
Kendra (11:59):
That's not here.
Luckily, that's not really amajor concern here in the United
States.
I think we, as you know,Floridians have really kind of
taken sea turtles under our wingas our own responsibility to
protect, which is really cool.
We're pretty protective of them.
Brian (12:15):
Well, I was reading on your I believe it was on your
site.
I was reading about how seaturtles are essential to the
marine ecosystem.
Kendra (12:21):
Can you?
Brian (12:22):
explain a little bit about that.
Kendra (12:23):
Yeah, that's great, I think.
During our public presentations, we always called this the so
what, who cares?
Section.
You know, and that is seaturtles.
Okay, what happens if theydisappear?
What's the big deal?
Why do we spend so much time,energy, financial resources on
protecting a species?
Well, turns out, studies haveshown us that sea turtles are
(12:45):
considered a keystone species.
So what that means is, if youwere to remove that species from
the ultimate ecosystem or thefood chain itself, there would
be a collapse.
And so why that happens withsea turtles and why they're so
critical one?
They're highly migratory, sowhen they move, they actually
carry the critters and thebacteria and all of the
(13:07):
microscopic organisms that areliving on their shell.
They take them with them, andwhen they reef hop, they feed
tons and tons of fish or theymix nutrients within those reefs
as well to keep them viable.
Our coral reefs and our reefsin general are critically
important for commercial fishing, for recreation, tourism, you
(13:29):
name it.
Tons of industries that are noteven, you know, just an
ecosystem thriving situation.
And so they're not only feedingfish and other critters,
they're migrating, mixing thosenutrients across the ocean
waters, through the thousandsand thousands of miles they
might travel.
And then the other cool part isthey actually are one of the
very few species in the entireworld that move from water to
(13:52):
land right, thinking of that,because their nesting occurs on
dry land, while the rest of the99% of their life is spent out
in salty water.
And so when that happens andthey lay those eggs not every
egg hatches, if somethingdoesn't hatch, like that dead
turtle that was decomposing onyour beach at Palm Island, not
my beach when things decompose,they create nitrogen.
(14:16):
Well, a plant's favorite foodis nitrogen, and so they're
naturally fertilizing the dunes.
That would be your naturalfirst line of protection from
storms climate change, you nameit and so it's really important
to have vegetated dunes, oursandy dunes, so that that sand
can protect all of ourstructures that we've decided to
(14:36):
build in these coastalcommunities.
So there's tons of differentways that you know, and I hate
to say this.
My last little bit thehatchlings that do make it maybe
only one in a thousand willactually make it to adulthood.
Those hatchlings we've foundare extremely important for
commercial fish you like to eat,and that's a critical food
(14:57):
source for a segment of thatfish's year.
Shawna (15:00):
Was there a moment that made you feel this is exactly
where I need to be and what Ineed to be doing?
Kendra (15:05):
I wouldn't say that that feeling was that warm and fuzzy
.
I have a scientist brain, soyou know data, numbers, results.
That really is what drives mydecision making, not so much
emotions.
So when I first moved to Vero,I had a job in the local county
environmental management group.
At the time it was called theCoastal Division.
(15:26):
It's changed and evolved overtime.
There was a time when I waslike I'm county staff.
I'm the only sea turtle expertwho lives and works in this
entire county and we.
Our entire county is just southand actually includes part of
the National Wildlife Refuge,the Archicar Refuge, which is
the most important space fornesting sea turtles in the state
of Florida and the UnitedStates.
(15:47):
It's right here in our backyard.
Shawna (15:49):
We saw that sign.
Remember the?
And it shows the map.
Kendra (15:51):
Yeah, we just found out about that and it's it's a very
unique refuge, but it is, infact, the most important nesting
ground for nesting turtles herein the United States.
And I was here and I was likethere's not a group working
together On sea turtleconservation here, like there's
myself and a couple ofvolunteers that are volunteering
for the county government.
We need to be doing more, andso that's where the organization
(16:14):
got started.
It was a labor of love onweekends and nights, tons and
tons of volunteer hours betweenmyself and a few core
individuals in this communitywho are still with the
organization today.
Oh, that's awesome, and webuilt it from the ground up,
grassroots, just knowing thatsea turtles need to be protected
.
People need to love them justas much as we do and be just as
(16:37):
connected and emotionally drivenby them to make good choices.
We're now eight years old hereat Coastal Connections and we've
evolved, but the community hasevolved with it.
Their love and passion hasgrown just as much as the
organization.
Their involvement from thecommunity has grown through
volunteerism just as much as theorganization, and it's been
(16:59):
really exciting to see how ourlessons that we like to teach
you know, one movement or onebehavior or one action may only
seem small to you, but ifeveryone in this community is
doing it, it's no longer small.
Yeah, how many people do youhave that volunteer with you?
So we have two different typesof volunteer opportunities, so
what we call our programvolunteers.
They're onboarded, they'retrained, they're scheduled.
(17:22):
There's about 150.
And then community volunteersare people from our community
who show up to you know eventsthat they're available to
participate in.
We probably interact with 2,000or more of them a year.
Wow.
Brian (17:36):
Well, this has been a great first episode.
Kendra, I was going to let youask another question, but I
think we're going to wait toepisode two.
We're going to dive into thebehind the scenes and I'll just
give you like a little bit ofheads up.
Before we go there, we're goingto ask you if there's some kind
of meaning behind the differentcolored ribbons that we've seen
around the Nessings.
So we'll get there.
We'll get there and, for thoseof you that are tuned in, if you
enjoyed this episode, make sureyou click that subscribe and
(17:58):
leave us a review and with that,catch you next time neighbor.
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