2018 Impact Report
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EDUCATION + REHABILITATION + RESEARCH + CONSERVATION 2018 Impact Report 2018 From blue-green algae to red tide, our campus Letter from the CEO took evasive action to keep our most important Contents residents, LMC’s sea turtle patients, safe from Introduction 1 and Board Chair our evolving environment. Conservation 3 35 Years of Impact: The year 2018 was very special Juno Beach Pier 6 “The sea turtle tells us the health of the ocean, and in Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s (LMC) history. the ocean tells us the health of our planet.” We th Education 7 In 2018 we celebrated our 35 birthday and share our planet with wildlife, and we know that Research 9 reached record levels of impact. we have one Earth. There is no Plan(et) B. These Rehabilitation 11 Record Awareness and Action: two statements fuel our passion for progress and Marketing & Communications 13 The year 2018 also brought with it a monumental help to unify us all. Blue Friends/Go Blue Awards 15 shift in the global ocean conservation conversation with the following key inflection points: Over 35 years ago, LMC’s founder Eleanor Fletcher Retail Operations 16 • April, Earth Day, dedicated to reducing plastics set us on a course to create an indelible legacy. Capital Expansion Campaign 17 in our world’s ocean Today as we move forward with our Waves of Progress expansion campaign, we have the Signature Events 21 • June, National Geographic’s iconic “Planet or opportunity to significantly amplify and accelerate Circle of 100 22 Plastic” issue is published • July, Plastic drinking straws serve as the icon our conservation and education impact. Financial Summary 24 1 for people to reduce single-use plastics Board of Directors/Staff 25 • August - December, some of the world’s We are humbled by the kindness of our sup- leading corporations take pledges to porters, and to them, we say thank you. We are Donors 26 hopeful to engage a more diverse base of support Volunteers 34 significantly reduce their reliance on single- use plastics including plastic straws and internationally so that together, we can better shopping bags advocate for the health of the world’s sea turtle population, our planet’s ocean, and ultimately the In 2018, the world awoke to a massive conservation health of ourselves. movement, and the staff, volunteers, and On behalf of our entire team of staff, volunteers, supporters of LMC were a major part of this board of directors and supporters, We want to conversation. Thank you for helping us make thank you for helping us achieve another record- #WavesOfProgress. Loggerhead Marinelife Center is a 501(c)(3) setting year of conservation and education nonprofit organization committed to the With help from our supporters, we have made impact. With your continued support, our future conservation of ocean ecosystems great progress, reaching record-setting impact looks very bright. through public education, research and across all of LMC’s programming areas, as well rehabilitation with a special focus on as reaching a record number of guests, students, threatened and endangered sea turtles. influencers and corporate partners. Cover photo by Thomas Dickinson The year 2018 was not without its challenges, in Jack E. Lighton Lynne Wells particular, those brought on by unclean water. President & CEO Board Chair REHABILITATION CONSERVATION REHABILITATION CONSERVATION EDUCATION RESEARCH 2018 Impact Summary * Loggerhead Marinelife Center is one of world’s most VISITORS 350,000RESEARCH + EDUCATION 64,000+RESEARCH unique nonprofit cultural destinations focused on sea turtle and ocean conservation. In 2018, the Center Guests at LMC in 2018. Students Educated at LMC. celebrated its 35th anniversary and welcomed more Community impact: We offer free admission than 350,000 guests from around the globe. Over the Educational impact: We offered 39 unique thanks to the support of guests, donors and past year, programming, research and productivity VISITORSSTEM-based publicRESEARCH and school programs have continued to flourish. Additionally, LMC’s global community partners. to learners of all ages and are expanding conservation network has now reached 90 partners Did you know? We are expanding our campus our outreach. and growing. The Center continues moving forward to and tripling in size over the next few years, its next phase, an expansion, that when complete, will allowing us to save more sea turtles, educate Did you know? Our Center served nearly 1,300 triple the size of the campus, allowing the LMC team REHABILITATION CONSERVATION more guests, conduct more research and students from Title I (underserved) schools in to save more sea turtles, educate more guests, con- advance ocean conservation initiatives, all 2018, and we expanded campus guided tours duct more research and advance ocean conservation while continuing to offer free admission. to be offered in Spanish, German, French and initiatives. With this in mind, there is still more work *Guest counts at Juno Beach Sea Turtle Hospital campus. American Sign Language (ASL). to be done. The future looks bright and so does LMC’s continued commitment and impact. EDUCATION RESEARCH 2 REHABILITATION CONSERVATION REHABILITATION CONSERVATION VISITORS RESEARCH 11,951 100+ 161,358 Sea Turtle Nests Recorded. Sea Turtle Patients admitted. Pieces of marine debris collected. Research impact: 11,951 nests and 16,439 Rehabilitation impact: LMC continues to Conservation impact: LMC has over 90 false crawls were recorded, totaling 28,390 EDUgainCATION global notorietyRESEARCH as a sea turtle teachingEDUCATION RESEARCconservationH partners across six continents, sea turtle activities documented in 2018. hospital and research facility, transforming which helps increase our international sea turtle treatment successes in Juno conservation and education impact. Did you know? LMC monitors a 9.5-mile Beach and around the planet. stretch on one of the most densely nested Did you know? Our Center recorded and sea turtle nesting beaches in the world. VISITORSDid you know? RESEARCHLMC works with partnersVISITORS RESEARCHsorted 161,358 pieces of marine debris in We are able to gather more data in a single from around the country to admit sea turtle 2018 and is helping to better identify the sea turtle nesting season than many other patients from other locations. In 2018, we sources as well as find ways to reduce organizations are able to collect in a decade. received 20 patients from Massachusetts. this rising threat to our oceans. Conservation: Fostering Partnerships Around the World 161,358 Pieces of debris removed from local beaches and waterways in 2018. 90+ Partners 6 3 Continents 16 Countries The Center’s global perspective is designed to expand our conserva- tion impact in the U.S. and around the globe. Our partnerships engage innovative organizations to The Conservation Department at LMC increase global conservation establishes and implements multi-faceted comprehensive conserva- awareness. tion solutions to man-made threats facing sea turtles. With over 90 conservation partners worldwide, LMC is dedicated to investigating and implementing strategic conservation and pollution prevention initiatives to help conserve threatened and endangered sea turtles. A list of our conservation partners is Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings encounter plastic pollution on their journey to the ocean. available at: marinelife.org/partners Pollution Prevention In 2018, LMC and Project SHIELD partners: Pollution prevention is at the forefront of our initia- • Removed 161,358 individual items tives. Every month, LMC compiles beach and • Collected over 3,715 pounds of marine debris underwater cleanup data into comprehensive “Sort • Recycled over 228 miles of monofilament Reports.” These publicly available reports break down marine debris data collected during beach The strangest items found during beach cleanups cleanups. in 2018 include: a toilet seat, a Christmas tree with working lights, a lottery ticket and an Apple watch. • It is estimated that over 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean annually Top 3 Items Collected in 2018 • LMC finds between 70-90% of all trash removed from our beach cleanups is made of plastic 48,935 Plastic Pieces #StrawFreeWithLMC 38,405 Foam Pieces On Earth Day, 2018, LMC 25,475 Cigarette Butts partnered with the City of Marine Debris Sorting Station West Palm Beach Mayor’s In 2018, LMC’s Conservation Department unveiled Office for Sustainability, Underwater Cleanups the Marine Debris Sorting Station exhibit, a gift from and 42 local restaurants Bank of America. This first-of-its-kind exhibit helps 4 to go Straw Free with LMC. To reduce the threat posed by submerged fishing line to sea turtles and other marine life at the Juno to educate the general public on the types and For this event, participat- sources of pollution most commonly found during ing restaurants refrained Beach Pier, LMC, in partnership with Jupiter Dive Center, conducts regular underwater cleanups. beach cleanups, while highlighting the problem of from offering plastic plastic pollution in our oceans. After every beach straws to their patrons on Earth Day to help in- and underwater cleanup, the Conservation Depart- crease public awareness of the need to eliminate In 2018: • 6 underwater cleanups - 136 lbs. of marine debris ment sorts and documents each piece of debris, single-use plastics. In one day, this event eliminated allowing us to identify major types and sources of an estimated 15,000 straws from potentially enter- pollution. ing the marine environment and posing a threat to Regularly scheduled underwater cleanups at the sea turtles and other marine wildlife. While plastic Juno Beach Fishing Pier reduces the accumulation straws are called “disposable,” they last forever and of fishing line under the pier, eliminating the threat it poses to sea turtles and other marine life. During are among the top 10 items collected globally during • Allow us to reach further and be more visible in underwater cleanups, a team of divers work to cut beach cleanup events. a worldwide network that we will continue to away fishing line and remove other hazardous expand through our added collaboration spaces.