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Karen Walby - Sea Turtle Specialist
A lot of kids in Miami-Dade wanted to learn about a County career that is
related to the preservation of our environment. Since all
summer long is sea turtle hatching season, we thought who better to talk to than the charming Karen Walby! Our
special reporter, Danielle Alvarez, asked all the questions.
What does
your job require you to do as far as taking care of the
sea turtles?
| My
day at work starts with the morning patrol. I patrol
at 6:30 am in Crandon Park and anywhere along the
shores. I search for sea turtle tracks and I follow
them to the nest. |
| I then dig
up any nests and return the eggs to our hatchery. It
takes the eggs about 60 days to hatch. We let them
hatch naturally - we don't interfere with the
hatching at all. But once the eggs do hatch, then I
go back in the hatchery after 72 hours and dig up
the nests to see if there were any hatchlings that
were possibly stuck, trapped, or that weren't strong
enough to get out of their eggs. Those hatchlings
are called "runts". The reason I dig up
the runts is so I can help them a little bit
and make sure they get out, so that they have as
much of a chance as possible. |
The Crandon
Park Sea Turtle Hatchery
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Another thing
I do is count how many eggs didn't hatch, how many are
partially hatched, or if there are any dead turtles. Then
after I do that, I report the numbers to the State of Florida at
the end of the year - for research and statistics.
What is the
procedure when one of the turtles is weak or gets stuck in
the egg?
Karen helps some
turtle babies |
We never actually see
the healthy hatchlings, just their tiny tracks in
the sand. But the weaker ones do need our help. We take
them out of their nest during our night-time release program when it is safer
for baby sea turtles to move around the beach. |
What
inspired you to get this job?
| Well,
four years ago I was in college at the University of
Florida and I got an opportunity to do an internship
during the summer at Canaveral National Seashore
where I was doing a sea turtle program.
On my first
day at the beach I saw a mother turtle laying her
eggs and then I drove a bit further down the beach
and discovered some baby turtles that were hatching.
And that was it!
I thought, "This is what I
want to do!". So, now I am just about done with
my Masters Degree on sea turtles, which took 2 years
of hard work. |
Karen shows a cast
of a nest (in its original size)
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Do you
enjoy your job? Is there anything about it that is
difficult?
I definitely enjoy this job! Turtles aren't the only
part of my job, though. I'm also a part of the educational
programming for the Parks Department and I also handle the
Crandon Eco-Adventures program along with a number of
co-workers. I get to take kids on nature walks during the
day, talk to them about conservation, and then I do the
sea turtle programs in the early mornings and the nights.
Now you can take a nature walk with
me and my co-worker Ernie online and see how fun it is!
How many
times a year do the sea turtles lay their eggs?
Karen shows the
difference in size between the loggerhead (the
bigger skull) and a green turtle (to the left). |
Basically, nesting season is from April to September. A
single mom can come up to the shore to lay her eggs up to
5 to 7 times in one year. She will lay about 100 to 180
eggs each time. So there is a chance that the same mother
can lay up to a thousand eggs in one summer. The turtles that come to Crandon Park Beach are loggerhead
turtles. Miami Beach has leatherback turtles and green
turtles. We have many loggerhead turtles because our
shores are shallow. The loggerhead turtles are threatened
but luckily not endangered.
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Is there
any way we can help protect the sea turtles?
Definitely cleaning the beach helps! A lot of times
turtles get confused, thinking that the garbage floating
in the water is food. For example,
the leatherback turtles only eat jellyfish. The plastic
bags that people throw into the water look like jellyfish
to the turtles, so they eat them. If they swallow the bag,
it will close off their breathing. And they need to breath
just like we do, in order to live.
Another
example is when people throw away the plastic rings that
hold a six-pack of soda or beer. It can sometimes get
attached to a turtle's flipper or neck, and it can cut off
the turtle's circulation.
Garbage is
indeed the main thing that harms sea turtles! Other things
would be fishing lines that can choke the turtle, or tar
that is thrown into the ocean. But garbage is what does
most of the damage.
If someone
were to see an injured turtle, what should they do?
If you are at a park, the best thing to do is to
contact park personnel. If its any other beach, you should
call the nearest local park personnel or even the coast
guard. But never handle the turtle yourself! |
The girls working at
Crandon Park are smiling and ready to help!
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What are
some of the predators that turtles have to face?
Well, for the baby sea turtles anything that is bigger
than them can be threatening. Baby sea turtles are about
two inches long. Some of the dangerous things they can
face would be seabirds, raccoons, dogs, crabs, etc.
Once they grow
to a larger size, the main predators are humans and sharks.
In a lot of other countries people kill sea turtles for
food, or just for their shells.
Are there any
programs for kids out there to help clean the beach so
that we can make it a better place for the sea turtles?
Every beach
has a "beach clean-up" program throughout the
year. I know that here in Dade County we have a program called "Baynanza" which is a big beach clean-up
that happens every year.
Here at
Crandon Park we can have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, or
any other group come and help us clean the beach. All you
have to do is give us a call and we can provide gloves and
plastic bags. Whatever garbage you pick up really helps!
You just have to call and let us know when you plan to
come.
 |
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| Dani
and Karen |
A
funky little iguana we met at the end of
our adventure |
Thank you
for everything, Karen! Keep up the great work :)
And now... we
invite you all to test your knowledge of sea turtles. Check
out our quiz, and help Juru, the sea turtle, find his
way to the water!
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