To show their support of sea turtle conservation, a Fort Myers Girl Scout troop donated $750 towards SCCF’s sea turtle program last week.

“Our Girl Scout troop chose to donate to the SCCF turtle program because we are passionate about conservation and protection of our natural world,” said Troop Leader Kelsey Leone. “We wanted to choose a local organization so that the benefits would go directly to places and creatures that we can visit and enjoy — in our own ‘backyard’ so to speak.”

The Girl Scouts reviewed donation options and decided to adopt ten sea turtle nests at $75 per nest — a $750 donation — representing the ten members of the troop, including leaders. The donation came directly from funds raised by all members of the troop this year.

“We offer a symbolic adopt-a-nest program to support our efforts to protect and care for sea turtles on Sanibel and Captiva,” said Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan. “It’s a great way to play a role in the work we do by engaging directly with nests during the summer nesting season.”

Sloan, who holds the islands’ Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) permit for all activities related to sea turtles, visited with the troop to thank them for the donation.

She also gave an informative and casual presentation on SCCF’s sea turtle program and how nests are identified, monitored, and inventoried for hatchlings.

“The girls were very interested to hear Kelly explain how exactly the money is used to protect turtles and their habits,” said Leone. “Unfortunately, we were not able to have all the girls present so we talked about plans to have Kelly speak to the whole troop at a future date.”

Sloan plans to visit the troop again at the end of nesting season, which runs from May through October, to share more information about the sea turtle program and to give them an update on nest counts and hatchlings.

In 2023, a total of 1,201 sea turtle nests were laid on the islands, with 1,177 loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests and 24 green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests. From those nests, 27,368 hatchlings successfully emerged.

Pictured above, L to R, are Kelly Sloan, Carmen Leone, Cecelia Leone, and Kelsey Leone.

Other members of Girl Scout Troop 654 who are not pictured, include:

• Bethany Halle
• Darbylee Krieder
• Deanna Krieder (leader)
• Kirsten Roe
• Sofia Santana
• Isabella Short
• Danielle Siracusa

Learn more about SCCF’s Adopt-a-Nest program here.

Part of the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Troop 654 members encourage others to learn about becoming a Girl Scout and participating in similar community service activities. Click here for more info!