By Levi Novey •
May 5, 2009
Among Cairn terriers, the best-known celebrity is “Toto” from the Wizard of Oz. Now she might have some competition, as a Cairn terrier named Ridley is gaining fame for helping to save his namesake, the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.
Ridley helps find the nests of the sea turtles in Texas along Padre Island National Seashore– the longest barrier island in the world. It’s necessary to find the nests quickly so that they can be protected from coyotes or raccoons, or even the high tide. Sometimes human volunteers can’t find the nests after following turtle tracks, so it’s Ridley and his nose to the rescue!
By Levi Novey •
May 1, 2009
Over the past 2 weeks a number of organizations including National Geographic, Conservation International, and several famous rock bands helped facilitate the “Great Turtle Race”: a fun effort to scientifically track the migration of 11 endangered leatherback sea turtles on their journey from Canada to the Caribbean. In addition to building awareness of the need for turtle conservation, one of the turtles provided the world with the 1st complete set of migration data ever recorded for a sea turtle.
Seen above, the sea turtle known as Wawa Bear traveled 4471 miles
and had her entire route tracked successfully. At 1315 pounds, it should not be hard to imagine where the name “bear” comes from. Wawa Bear is, in fact,
the largest sea turtle ever captured in Nova Scotian waters.
