Tour de Turtles: A Celebration of Sea Turtles and Science at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

Tour de Turtles: A Celebration of Sea Turtles and Science at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

The 16^th annual Tour de Turtles: a Celebration of Sea Turtles took place yesterday at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. Researchers from the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) and Disney Conservation released two sea turtles as part of the Tour de Turtles “migration marathon.” The turtles were both named after characters in Disney’s frighteningly fun adventure movie, “Haunted Mansion.”

Related – Disney Celebrates 20 Years of Sea Turtle Conservation at Vero Beach Resort

Tour de Turtles is a fun, educational event that follows the migration of sea turtles from their nesting beaches to their feeding grounds and ultimately provides scientific data on how best to protect their species.

The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) and Disney Cruise Line are each sponsoring a turtle this year, whose names, Madame Leota and Harriet, are the names of characters in Disney’s frighteningly fun adventure movie “Haunted Mansion,” now playing in theaters. Not unlike Gabbie, another character in the film who enlists a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters – Tour de Turtles brings together a team of researchers from the STC and Disney Conservation annually to undertake a daunting mission – using satellite telemetry to track two female turtles to determine where and how far they swim during the migration season.

Each turtle swims to raise awareness about various threats to sea turtle survival. The turtle to swim the furthest distance will win the Tour de Turtles race.

“Disney’s commitment to sea turtle conservation in Vero Beach spans 20 years, and we are very proud to have recently watched our 1.5 millionth sea turtle hatchling leave the nest and shuffle its way to the ocean,” said Mark Penning, Vice President of Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment. “Southeast Florida hosts one of the largest nesting aggregations of loggerhead sea turtles, making up to 40 percent of the global loggerhead population. The team has recorded more than 20,000 sea turtle nests on our survey route since the program began.”

The data collected during Tour de Turtles helps researchers, conservationists and governing agencies make more informed decisions about sea turtle conservation and management. Since the launch of the event in 2008, STC and Disney have collaborated to study 29 sea turtles outfitted with satellite transmitters and released from Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. Continuing its commitment to strengthen youth education programs in port communities around the world, Disney Cruise Line proudly supported local students from Club Esteem from Melbourne, Florida, to participate in this year’s event. DCF also has directed more than $5.1 million to support global sea turtle conservation efforts.

“Disney is a fantastic collaborator,” said David Godfrey, STC Executive Director. “Disney’s commitment to conservation, passion for environmental education, and effectiveness at communicating with audiences have made the Tour de Turtles a fun and successful program since it was launched over a decade ago.”

In addition to Tour de Turtles, the Disney Conservation team has dedicated nearly 19,000 hours to studying and monitoring sea turtle nests during the summer nesting season along the five-mile coastline at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. From approximately May to October, Disney Vacation Club members and resort guests also have the opportunity to assist the team by joining outings to observe real-time sea turtle research while learninghow they can take action to protect sea turtles. So far this year, the Disney Conservation team has a record-breaking number of nests along their survey route –nearly 2,000 by August, well above the average 1,500 normally counted in an entire season.

Tour de Turtles is a research and education program of the Sea Turtle Conservancy and Disney’s support is just one example of bringing Disney Planet Possible to life by taking action to make a happier, healthier planet possible for all. 

Have you ever seen the turtles at Vero Beach?

Ready to plan your next stay at Disney’s Vero Beach? Contact me for a free vacation quote! I’m a travel agent with Destinations to Travel and my services are complimentary.

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!