Four Haddonfield Memorial High School juniors have banded together to help save the turtles.
Spurred on by the lessons learned this year in Ron Smith’s environmental science class, Regan Mink, Julia Heslin, Ava Remphrey and Rebekah Vielehr collected $2,200 dollars for the Leatherback Trust – an international nonprofit conservation outfit dedicated to preventing turtle extinction.
On hand to accept the donation, was Jim Spotila, chairman of the board and founder of the Leatherback Trust, who also serves as the L. Drew Betz Chair professor, Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science at Drexel University.
According to Mink, the four started a GoFundMe on April 18, shared it through multiple social-media channels, then engaged classes in a donation competition, and the student body responded by contributing more than $700. The group also made dental-floss bracelets and metal straws, selling them at farmers markets in the area to raise additional funds.
None of the four took the bait when asked which among them managed to raise the most, deferring instead to the group effort, the kindness of their classmates and the community at large.
What are killing turtles on a global scale? According to Spotila, “Fishing. Commercial fishermen. Plastics probably to some level, and being caught in kill nets off the coast of South America, and everywhere else.”
Locally, what’s killing turtles are speeding cars. Each year, generally from May through July, females depart their watery habitats, select a spot on dry earth, dig a hole and lay up to 10 thin-shelled eggs.
In Haddonfield, that means turtles take to Hopkins Lane out of Hopkins Pond, unaware of the two-ton metal machines whose tires can spell their doom in an instant. As motorists navigate the bend in the road, the last thing they’re looking for, at any speed, are creatures difficult to see in daylight and nearly impossible after sundown.
“They had turtle crossing signs put up on Hopkins Lane, one in either direction,” Smith said of the efforts of his four students to keep the turtles as safe as possible by petitioning borough government.
The signs were to be delivered to Smith at the high school on June 13, and Smith said they would then pass the signs along to the Department of Public Works for proper placement. However, Smith did not know at the time when DPW would be able to put up the signs although he credited borough administrator Sharon McCullough in securing permission to do so.
On Leatherback’s work in Central America to best preserve the turtles’ existence, Smith said: “Since the 1990s, Dr. Spotila and his team have converted poachers to guides on the beach, so that was step one. The generation time is … 20 years before females come back to nest after (eggs) have hatched, but with the mortality associated with the fishing gear, plastics and everything else it’s tough. We’re still optimistic.”
Spotila, a Haddonfield resident, was also open to any interested students who might want to volunteer for a yearly trip to Costa Rica. Though located in a tropical locale, Spotila warned, it would not be a cool summer trip since turtle season occurs during the school year, from October through February. He suggested taking time from the school’s holiday break to help out.
For more information about turtles and Leatherback’s involvement with the species, visit www.leatherback.org.
