A Safe Place for Sea Turtles

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

The Barrier Island Turtle Sanctuary in Florida’s Brevard County, on the Atlantic Coast, provides a safe place for sea turtles to lay their eggs. On this fragile swath of coastline, Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback, and other turtles find shelter and the nesting ground they need.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti are fascinated by sea turtles.

We learned about this special place that plays an important role in the marine ecosystem from Sunny’s sister Rose Singer, who moved from California to Florida with her husband Bob, and is a volunteer at the sanctuary.

Charmed by the windswept beach, Rose looks forward to seeing the turtle eggs and new hatchlings. Depending on the species, sea turtles typically lay 80 or more eggs in nests on the shore each season (March – November).

“Every year the sanctuary celebrates the hatching season and people gather to watch the release of turtle hatchlings into the ocean,” says Rose. “The eggs usually hatch during the night when the moon is out. You can also watch the turtles coming in to dig nests on the banks to lay their eggs. It’s quite a sight to see.”

With sea turtle populations decreasing because of the destruction of their natural habitats and wild spaces becoming fewer, this sanctuary provides a home for the turtles and gives scientists a chance to observe and learn from them.

SurfWriter Girl Patti and her husband Greg saw turtle nesting sites on a trip to Costa Rica’s rainforest and Manuel Antonio National Park.

SurfWriter Girls friend champion long distance ocean swimmer Lynne Cox has written about sea turtles, capturing the essence of their ocean journeys in her beautiful book Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius.

The book chronicles the true story of Yoshi, a Loggerhead turtle, and her record-breaking 23,000-mile swim from South Africa to Australia, returning to the place of her birth to lay her eggs.

Driven by a primal need to reproduce, sea turtles everywhere need places for their nests. Florida’s Atlantic Coast sea turtles are fortunate to have a special piece of coastline waiting for them at the Barrier Island Turtle Sanctuary.

Sea turtle sculpture at beginning of story by artist Dave Reynolds.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Girl Scout Designs New Patch

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Summertime is Scouting time! Since the Girl Scouts were founded on March 12, 1912, by Juliette Low in Savannah, Georgia, Scouting has been introducing girls to the outdoors and camping.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti (shown here in the paper weights they made as Girl Scout Brownies – junior Scouts) have strong memories of camping, making friends, earning merit badges, and of course, selling Girl Scout Cookies.

We were excited to learn that Maya Takeuchi of Orange County’s Niguel Coast Service Unit Junior Troop 1487 designed the patch for her troop’s participation in the 2026 International Food Fair, an annual event that teaches girls across America about food, crafts and traditions from other countries.

As the Patch Design Winner, Maya’s embroidered patch will be worn on each girl’s vest or sash, providing a colorful memory of the event. Maya said, “I came up with the idea for the patch design because it’s a food fair so the earth should be eating. And I wanted to show all the different countries’ flags.”

Her troop participated in the fair by learning about Japanese food and traditions, preparing and eating Japanese food, and dressing up in bright, cherry blossom-pink kimonos.

Maya’s Grandfather (shown here with Maya and her Dad) is Japanese so it was special for her to be able to learn more about his culture and to share it with the other girls.

Sara Salehpour, the troop’s leader and Maya’s proud mom (here with Maya), told SurfWriter Girls, “I’ve been working with this troop since they were in kindergarten and now they are fourth graders. It’s been great watching them grow and feel more independent and creative each year.”

Along with outdoor activities, the Girl Scouts helps girls to be confident and independent and to develop skills to accomplish their goals. Girls can earn merit badges in everything from nature and science to cooking, fine arts, computers, robotics and entrepreneurship.

The sky’s the limit. Just ask Maya!

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.