Posted on Sunday, March 20, 2011
Naples Best Addresses is one of the few green certified real estate teams in Naples and we feel strongly we should give back to our world, including environmental projects. This week we were proud to sponsor our first marine biology project with Mote Marine and the Naples Conservancy.
The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is an endangered species due to human interference at their only known nesting beach in Mexico and the threat of drowning in shrimp boat nets. As juveniles these turtles hang out in our own back yard foraging on spider crabs. By capturing and studying these turtles when they are here in Naples we can learn more about the species and perhaps rebuild their numbers. Thanks to the work of Mote Marine Laboratory, Conservancy of Southwest Florida and others the Mexican beach is now protected and new shrimp net designs were implemented halting the downward population slide of the turtles – but more work needs to be done.
This week we accompanied the researchers out on the water and observed the capture of an adult female Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. By affixing an Argos transmitter funded by our sponsorship the researchers can now track the turtle and seek to discover foraging grounds, additional nesting sites and important behaviors. We are pleased to be a part of all of this and give back to our great planet.
The turtle, now named “Cora” can be tracked through our Facebook site Naples Best Addresses and we will continue to provide updates in this blog. We continue to believe the Naples lifestyle is one of the best around and we live here year round. It is great to help keep this wonderful place an environmental wonderland.
