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Above: Amanda Andrews, Ginger Taylor, Michelle Leonard and Nancy Fahey carry
Remembrance, a loggerhead rescued in Wrightsville Beach on Memorial Day 2010, to
the ocean on June 1, 2011, during a release by the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and
Rehabilitation Center. Opposite: Injured sea turtles, like this one with a missing flipper, receive
medical attention and love before being released back into the wild.
there was enough for all the turtles — the
turtles who surface at the sound of her voice
and dance when she scratches their bellies.
On release day in June, the number of turtles
freed brought the total to more than 300
turtles that Beasley’s hospital has saved since
the doors opened.
The hospital attracted worldwide attention
when Beasley was named Hero of the Year
in 2007 by Animal Planet. Visitors from all
50 states and more than 90 foreign countries
have visited and oftentimes were called to
donate. The hospital collected funds penny
by penny through the years to continue
its efforts in the hopes of someday moving
somewhere with walking space.
With 42 injured turtles ranging from the
size of dinner plates to the size of dinner
tables tanked temporarily for medical care
during the 2011 summer, Beasley says, “I
don’t have room for a bowl of water.”
But a brighter future is right around the
corner. Nearly complete and scheduled to
open sometime during the winter, a new,
Any nesting
hatchling
or stranded
sea turtles should be left
alone and reported to
Matthew Godfrey, North
Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission sea turtle biologist
at (252) 241-7322; Nancy
Fahey, Wrightsville Beach
Sea Turtle Project coordinator
at (910) 791-4541; or the
Karen Beasley Sea Turtle
Rescue and Rehabilitation
Center at (910) 328-3377.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM