LBK Turtle Watch donates $10,500 to Mote for education, research

'Tis the season of giving on Longboat Key. 

Longboat Key Turtle Watch continued its annual tradition of giving back to Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium with $10,500 raised through donations this year. 

Longboat Key Turtle Watch has maintained this donation tradition for more than 15 years, honoring Freda Perrotta and Orville Clayton.

Clayton was one of the founding members of Longboat Key Turtle Watch when the group organized in 1969.

Nearly $2,350 of Longboat Key Turtle Watch’s donation went toward Mote’s education programs. 

Longboat Key Turtle Watch aims to sponsor at least one scholarship for a child interested in Mote’s summer camps. Some of the $2,350 will go toward one camper scholarship in Clayton's honor. 

The Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program received the largest donation from Longboat Key Turtle Watch this year at $4,900. This donation is made in honor of Perrotta. 

Perrotta was a long-time member of the Longboat Key Turtle Watch and instrumental in growing the organization into what it is now. She died in September 2023, but her legacy as the “turtle lady” lives on. 

One of the Longboat Key Turtle Watch programs that Perrotta helped enact was the “Name the Nest” program, which allows donors to have their names on turtle nest stakes and informed of how well the nest did after eggs hatch. 

“That was her thing, and she really enjoyed doing that even when she couldn't go out to the beach anymore,” Longboat Key Turtle Watch Vice President Cyndi Seamon said. “It was something that she could still be involved with.”

This year, Mote’s holiday wishlist related most to the recent hurricanes, said Seamon. For example, the adult sea turtle hospital requested funds for a new freezer that was lost during Hurricanes Helene and Milton. 

Mote recently reopened to the public on Nov. 22 after about two months of being closed for storm recovery.

During the turtle nesting season, Longboat Key Turtle Watch and Mote work closely together. Volunteers with Longboat Key Turtle Watch patrol Longboat’s beaches daily to mark and track turtle nests. 

Coordinated turtle nest data goes through Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research team. 

Throughout the entire year, Longboat Key Turtle Watch raises money by selling shirts at local stores and online and through the “Name a Nest” and “Adopt a Nest” programs to make the annual donation to Mote possible. 

To learn more about Longboat Key Turtle Watch or any of the programs, visit the organization's website at LBKTurtleWatch.com.