Marine Biology in Action with Sea Turtle Conservation

October 9, 2025
Grace Dandeneau listens to a sea turtle nest, which is marked by the two stakes with the nest at the center of the pink string. "Everyday at sunset we monitored the nests that were close to hatching by listening for sounds coming from the nest, such as sand movement or chirps," she says.

This past summer Grace Dandeneau, a marine biology major from Foster, Rhode Island, work as a Night Time Sea Turtle Tagging Intern with the Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota, Florida. Below she reflects on her experience.

As a Night Time Sea Turtle Tagging Intern, I went on the beach at sunset and would listen to the nests to see if there was any noise which would indicate the nest hatching. After that we would patrol all night looking for adult turtles laying their nests. If we found one, we would mark the nest and take measurements and samples of the adult such as blood, barnacles, or skin. In addition to my nightly duties I analyzed sound recordings as part of my internship.

The highlight of the internship was getting to see all the hatchlings make it into the water! They were so adorable and watching them all make their way into the water was really fulfilling and reinforcing that I chose the right path. Something very unexpected was we had one nest escape the containment we put on them so they don’t disorient and go the wrong way. We found 20 hatchlings clustered around a spotlight at a resort; another 30 had made it through the beachside resort, across the street and were wandering in the next resort’s parking lot. We even had a couple slip under a screened-in porch door and had to wake up the people staying there to retrieve them.

Note: No flash photography was used to collect this image. Images were acquired while conducting authorized research activities pursuant to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) MTP-216

Turtles can’t see red lights, so when we were collecting data, we would use red light. This ensured that we as researchers could see the turtles and obtain accurate data while also ensuring that we didn’t disturb them. We really wanted to minimize the impact that we had on them!

It was gratifying to know that the work we were doing was important to the conservation and knowledge of sea turtles on the west coast of Florida. For example, on the beach we marked nests so beachgoers didn’t step on them. Also, our research contributes to conservation policies and legislation. We need to understand these animals to protect them! 

Note: All data for this project was collected under Marine Turtle Permit #216.