Conservation Initiatives

Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s (LMC) conservation team serves as a local, national, and international agent of ocean conservation. Through project SHIELD, LMC’s conservation department provides comprehensive solutions to anthropogenic threats facing sea turtles by collaboratively working with a variety of stakeholders in Palm Beach County including fishing piers, recreational boaters, beach-side hotels, beach access points as well as pollution prevention projects and initiatives.

LMC’s team provides proactive solutions to partners and stakeholders all over the world to establish global sea turtle conservation initiatives backed by in-house data. With over 90 conservation partners spread across six continents, LMC is dedicated to investigating and implementing conservation and pollution prevention initiatives to help protect threatened and endangered sea turtles.

Our Conservation Initiatives

Beach Clean-ups

Responsible Pier Initiative (RPI)

Pollution Prevention

Sea Turtle Protection Zone (STPZ)

Conservation Volunteer Guide

Intern & Volunteer Resources

Conservation Internship Guide

Position Descriptions

As a Conservation Volunteer with the Responsible Pier Initiative at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, you’ll play a key role in marine conservation while embracing the charm of our local piers. This dual-role position involves engaging in beach cleanups, educating visitors about sea turtle protection and sustainable practices, assisting in the rescue of stranded marine life, and promoting responsible fishing practices. You’ll also conduct angler surveys and participate in research to enhance conservation efforts!
The Responsible Pier Initiative is a first-of-its-kind program designed as a collaborative tool to work directly with anglers and fishing piers. The purpose of these efforts is to provide first-responders on fishing piers with the necessary resources to respond effectively to sea turtle injuries and strandings on or around fishing piers. As a volunteer, you’ll be at the forefront of our mission, contributing to the conservation of marine ecosystems while embracing the unique charm of our local pier.

Program Descriptions

After every beach and underwater cleanup LMC’s Conservation Department, with the help of our dedicated volunteers, sorts and records each and every piece of debris collected. Sorting through the debris allows us to identify major types and sources of pollution and develop comprehensive conservation solutions to help mitigate them.
Self-Guided:o   Every Saturday morning, anytime between 8:30-11:30am the public is welcome to come participate in our weekly beach cleanup events! During this time, our volunteers are responsible for educating the public on the importance of beach cleanups and the threats marine debris poses to our environment.
Private Beach Cleanups: o   Any day, any time a private group may schedule a private beach cleanup with our team. During this event, the team gets an in-depth introduction into Loggerhead Marinelife Center, the Conservation Department, and why events like beach cleanups are so important. Afterwards the volunteers even get their own sort report!
Tour De Trash: o   Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s inaugural month-long Tour de Trash began in 2021, an initiative to clean several ocean fronts along South Florida’s coast. The center’s greatest beach cleanup effort to date welcomed helping hands to collect debris on our beaches. To date, we have removed 3137.58 lbs. through our Tour de Trash initiative.
Balloon Ban: Balloons are often released, purposefully or by accident. Deflated balloons resemble jellyfish, a common prey item for sea turtle species. To promote the safety and protection of marine life, LMC launched a Balloon ban initiative to help mitigate marine debris. Since 2017 LMC has removed over 9,505 balloons from Florida Beaches to date!
Cigarette Pollution Prevention Program: In 2016, the most commonly found marine debris item in the world were cigarette butts. Cigarettes are actually made of out of thousands of microplastic threads that never disappear, they just break down into smaller and smaller microplastic pieces. In response, LMC’s Conservation team installed cigarette receptacles on the Juno Beach Pier and around Juno Beach. Since the inception of this program, we have diverted over 62,000 cigarettes from entering the marine environment!
Monofilament Recovery & Recycling Program: · Most fishing lines are made of monofilament, nylon. Because monofilament is often clear and thin, sea turtles and other marine life can easily become entangled in the line causing severe and or life-threatening injuries. To combat this, LMC collaborates with Florida Fish and Wildlife to manage the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program in Palm Beach County. Once the monofilament is collected, it is sent for recycling at Berkley Fishing Recycling in Iowa! Through this initiative, we have recycled over 4,000 miles of monofilament. That is enough monofilament to line from Florida to Arizonia and back!
Sea turtle unintended boat strikes have tripled in Florida since 1980, and nearly 50% of interactions occur in South Florida, from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade counties. The greatest number of unintentional boat strikes for leatherback, loggerhead, and green turtles occurred during nesting season. To decrease the number of interactions between boaters and threatened and endangered sea turtles during sea turtle nesting season in Florida, a voluntary Sea Turtle Protection Zone (STPZ) will be established from March 1st-October 31st. Currently the zone extends from Jupiter Inlet to Boca Raton Inlet, from shore to a mile offshore. Boaters are asked to follow the following steps when in the STPZ:
1.      Limit travel time within the Sea Turtle Protection Zone to prevent unintended boat strikes from harming sea turtles.
2.      Travel at a minimum safe speed when in waters within one mile offshore.
3.      Wear polarized sunglasses and designate a spotter to watch out for wildlife at the ocean’s surface.
The Responsible Pier Initiative (RPI) is a first-of-its-kind program designed as a collaborative tool to work directly with fishermen and fishing piers. The purpose of these efforts is to provide first responders on fishing piers with necessary resources to respond effectively to sea turtle injuries and strandings on or around fishing piers. Since the installation of RPI we have partnered with 74 participating piers and have had 1,805 reported turtle interactions with over 1,060 successful rescues!
COMING SOON!