Break for Turtles: Allison Scheflow, Gerald Madden and Carla Albano
Volunteer Team of 3+ Award for Resource Management
Allison Scheflow, Gerald Madden and Carla Albano are the “Break for Turtles” team. Over the last three years, they have surveyed the park’s beach signs for marking sea turtle nesting activities. As a team they do everything necessary to identify, document, address and evaluate turtle nesting activities.
In February of each year, park staff and volunteers begin checking the 2-plus miles of beach daily for any signs of turtle activity. Surveys start this early in the hope of coming across a leatherback crawl, even though they are few and far between in nesting activity. They are the first species to begin nesting on Florida’s beaches.
As the season progresses, the Break for Turtles team arrives and starts the survey prior to 6 a.m. Surveys are done every day until the last nest has been evaluated. Duties include crawl identification, nest verification, nest screening and marking, nest relocation, nest evaluation and documentation of each day’s results.
Nothing short of a hurricane keeps these dedicated volunteers from doing their duty. In addition to survey duties, they also remove non-native debris from the beach and serve as ambassadors for the park by talking to visitors about sea turtle nesting and the park.
Overall, the team has contributed more than 8,000 hours toward monitoring sea turtle nesting activities. Allison has contributed more than 3,021 hours, Gerald has contributed more than 3,092 hours and Carla has contributed more than 1,124 hours.
2020 Florida State Parks Volunteer Recognition Award Winner
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