CityView Magazine

Surf’s UP for sea turtles Volunteers turn the tide for an endangered species By Skip Maloney Above | Sea turtles find safe haven at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. Right | Founder Jean Beasley opened the hospital in memory of her daughter who died of leukemia. Want to go? Visitors are welcome during summer months, generally between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.seaturtlehospital.org at the center of it all, perched on a stool, waiting for the sight of a sea turtle in the cloudy, salty water. Those expecting a gleaming facility T 58|June/July • 2009 with carpeted floors or uniformed tour guides should prepare for a more informal experience at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. But make no mistake – the work done here is professional. Volunteers strive to save North Carolina’s injured sea turtles and, occasionally, a few international ones as well, as a wayward traveler named Wee Willie can attest (see page 61). OPSAIL ISLAND – A dizzying array of plastic storage tanks greets first- time visitors, and it’s not unusual to find Jean Beasley From June to August, the center opens its doors to the public, offering tours and information on the subject of sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation. In addition to volunteers, the center engages junior interns as young as 13, plus college students, some of whom work year round receiving class credits, while others participate in a 12-week summer program that entertains applicants from all over the world. Summer is the center’s busiest season. Sometime this month, about 20 turtles that have spent the winter recovering from a variety of injuries will be returned to their natural environment, the protected sanctuary along the beaches of Topsail Island. Beasley established the center in 1997 in honor of her daughter, Karen, who died of leukemia in 1991 at the age of

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