I stumbled upon a fun and educational event that is starting in August: the Tour de Turtles. Rescued, rehabilitated and released turtles are tracked using satellite telemetry for about three months during migration season. The turtle that racks up the most miles is the Tour de Turtles marathon winner. Turtles have main sponsors that choose a specific cause to swim for such as water quality, light pollution, plastic debris in the water, illegal shell trading, etc.

The Tour de Turtles home page has music that auto-plays and I don’t see a place to turn it off, so be warned. Also, some of the pages have announcements and information from last year’s event. But keep in mind that the marathon doesn’t kick off until August 1, so perhaps everything will be updated by then.

You can donate money to sponsor a turtle marathoner. I am supporting the loggerhead turtle, Aaron, whose cause is boat strikes (injuries to turtles caused by passing boats). But, even if you don’t officially donate, you can still keep track of the turtles’ progress.

I also plan on incorporating this into my biology classes this year. I might not be able to create a big lesson about this but my students will at least be aware of the event I’ll give them updates on a regular basis. Should be fun!