WILMINGTON, N.C. — If you’re planning a stop at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, you’re in luck. They’ve got two brand new, and very tiny, creatures you can meet: Pip and Scout!
What You Need To Know
- Pip and Scout are two baby loggerhead sea turtles and the newest ambassadors at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher
- Almost all of the animals at the aquarium are ambassadors
- After about a year and a half, Pip and Scout will be released back into the wild
Andy Gould, an education curator at the aquarium, hopes that these two baby loggerheads will be able to not only give guests a memorable visit, but teach them about conservation and protecting their species as well — something he feels passionately about.
“I have always been interested in protecting the environment, in particular in water,” Gould said. “As a child, my family spent many vacations here on the coast of North Carolina, and I had several teachers who influenced me to be interested in science and to care for the environment.”
Now, he gets to do that every day. As an education curator, he gets to work with all sorts of sea life and help educate the public on conservation efforts to keep these animals like Pip and Scout safe.
The baby turtles were found during a nest excavation on local beaches. They were unable to get out of the nests on their own or make it to the ocean. Even if they did, only about 1 in 1,000 sea turtles make it to adulthood, but the aquarium has given them a second chance at life.
Now, they’re getting to live in the care of the aquarium while making a difference for the rest of their species.
“So they are ambassadors for their species, they’re helping all of our visitors here learn about loggerhead sea turtles and about the challenges that they’re facing out in the wild,” Gould said. “So they help to share things that visitors can do to help these turtles, things like turning off lights in the summertime so turtles don’t get confused and walk the wrong way and trying to reduce single use plastics so that doesn’t end up in our ocean and they accidentally eat it.”
It's not just Pip and Scout. All of the animals that are cared for at the aquarium are considered ambassadors. Gould says they represent their species and help to tell the stories of what their lives are like out in the wild.
“So we have our loggerheads that we’re so proud of, but we also have several species of sharks, we have alligators, hundreds of species of fish,” Gould said. “So all kinds of animals that are found here in North Carolina or around the world, that all of us need to be paying attention and make sure we’re protecting them in the wild.”
It’s that passion for these animals that makes taking care of them and sharing their stories with the public so rewarding for Gould and the rest of the aquarium staff.
“So for these turtles, we know, that if left to their own devices out in the wild, they would not have survived,” Gould said. “So we’re very glad to be able to bring them here, give them a second chance at life and share them with our visitors.”
Gould says that Pip and Scout will remain ambassadors at the aquarium for about a year and a half. After that, they will be tagged and released back into the wild where they will hopefully make their way to the Sargasso Sea.
If you’d like to visit Pip and Scout before then, the aquarium is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. While you’re there, you can also check out the Festival of Trees.