Young Sea Turtle Enthusiasts Walk the Walk

16-year-old Abby Melanson first heard about cold-stunned sea turtles washing in on Cape Cod beaches during visits to her grandmother’s home in Brewster. An ocean lover, Abby wanted to do something to help.

Abby and her classmate Alex Welch from King Philip High School in Wrentham, Massachusetts decided to form a non-profit called TideTogether to raise funds for turtle rescue. They created choker necklaces with gold or silver turtle charms that they sell for 8 dollars at their high school, their local Mass Audubon sanctuary, Stony Brook, in Norfolk and at Wellfleet Bay’s gift shop. They’ve even got some media attention!

TideTogether’s sea turtle necklace

But they wanted to do more.

Alex (left) and Abby (right) with a rescued Kemp’s ridley in Brewster.

So they came to the sanctuary for the Sea Turtle Open House over Thanksgiving weekend. They attended several lectures and a turtle patrol. After that, they were hooked and did more beach walking, even at night. They also experienced the less exciting but very important job of processing incoming turtles, many of which were being readied for rides to the New England Aquarium where they undergo rehabilitation.

Alex helps turtle team member Elora Grahame (left) weigh a ridley

Sea turtles capture the imaginations of many young people. For this reason our 30-year-old turtle rescue program informs the work the sanctuary does in local school classrooms, day camps, and family programs. But it’s pretty rare to see kids spend the bulk of a long holiday weekend working with stranded turtles, never mind raising more than $1,000 from necklace sales to benefit sea turtle rescue.

Abby says it wasn’t until their third beach patrol that they found their first live turtle, an unforgettable moment. “Here was a living, breathing creature who was in desperate need of our help and I had the power to make a difference in its life. I carried the banana box back to the car, smiling the entire time.”

There’s no question that Abby Melanson and Alex Welch are walking the walk on sea turtle conservation!