MORAES

Happy ! GMD is one of the nation's largest annual 24-hour giving events. Organizations in Miami-Dade County are able to raise money for necessary operations, supplies, and events through generous donors and individuals. Scroll through to find out how you can help by making your very own Champion Page!
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As the largest member of the shark family and the largest fish in the world, the whale shark is a marine animal worth celebrating! 💙 We're eager to bring your attention to this magnificent creature.

Whale sharks are listed as Endangered, meaning they are at risk of becoming extinct in the wild. International Whale Shark Day celebrates the beauty and resilience of whale sharks while highlighting their critical ecosystem services. It draws attention to their declining numbers and encourages collective efforts for their protection and preservation!

It's and we've got the spirit! 🏆 MORAES is on their way for another victory at this fall's Kickball Game on October 19th! Stay tuned for more details on how you can be involved in this year's tournament!

This September 21st, MORAES is participating in International Coastal Cleanup Day 2024! Click the link in our bio to register now and join us for the world’s largest, one-day volunteer effort! 🌊

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Want to learn more about sea turtle nesting, protection, and conservation? 🐢

Join the Frost Science x MORAES NEST Program happening this summer! To be notified about future excavations, click the link in our bio to join the mailing list.🌾
All activities are completed by permitted, trained personnel under MTP-24-153.

Thank you to the Key Biscayne Community Foundation () for their support! MORAES was recently named as one of the recipients of the KBCF Community Foundation Grant. We at MORAES are extremely grateful for this opportunity!

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We at MORAES would like to take the time this Monday to thank all of our sea turtle volunteers this season! Thank you for your passion and dedication to sea turtle conservation. We couldn’t do this project without you!

Special thanks to Sarah Beggerly for all her hard work during this turtle season. Also, take a look at the cute sea turtle she created! Thank you Sarah!

National Water Quality Month reminds us that it takes more than turning on the tap to guarantee clean water. Industrial and agricultural runoff, untreated waste, and household chemicals threaten our access to clean water every day. This August, let's remember clean water is a privilege, not a right! 💧Here's what you can do:

🚿 Wash your car at the car wash instead of hosing it down at home
🪴 Don't use fertilizer made with phosphorus
💩 Pick up after your pet to reduce runoff
🧼 Avoid using antibacterial soap or cleaning products in your drain

Learn more about National Water Quality Month at https://nationalwaterqualitymonth.org/

Join us this summer for the NEST program in partnership with !🐢

Led by the Frost Science Education Team, participants will learn about sea turtle conservation while they observe MORAES staff excavate a nest on Virginia Key Beach.

Nest excavations take place three days after a sea turtle nest hatches. Visit our website for more information (link in bio) and stay up to date with us on social media to get updates on NEST Program activities!

All activities are completed by permitted, trained personnel under MTP-24-153.

Happy MORAES Monday! Yesterday MORAES hosted a private event for TopTier Trading (toptier.trader). Participants did a beach cleanup of Historic Virginia Key Beach, witnessed a sea turtle nest excavation led by members of the MORAES sea turtle team, and even got to watch some baby sea turtles make their way to the ocean! Thanks for coming out, TopTier! And many thanks to Historic Virginia Key Beach Park (virginiakeybeachpark) for the use of their beautiful beaches 🐢
If you’re interested in a private event of your own, visit the private events page on our website (link in bio).
**All sea turtle nesting activities are conducted by trained personnel under MTP-24-153**

Happy MORAES Monday!

It's Coral Reef Awareness Week! 🪸 Swipe to discover more about this special time dedicated to learning about and taking action to protect our beautiful coral reefs!

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Join us on Thursday, July 18 for a happy hour at Lincoln’s Beard Brewing! ()
Learn about MORAES and view our Evolution of Darwin Beach and Sea Turtle Nesting videos that Reel Ocean created for us to highlight our projects!
Join us for some brews and get your hands on a cute new MORAES cup (available for a small donation to MORAES at the event)!

Happy MORAES Monday!

Here at MORAES, we love to give our interns the chance to partake in other MORAES projects. Last week, our Conservation Intern, Jordyn, helped out our Sea Turtle Nesting Intern, Isa, during the daily sea turtle patrol.

So far we have had 42 nests! We are looking forward to hatchings in the next couple of months!

**All sea turtle nesting activities are conducted by trained personnel under MTP-24-153**

Happy MORAES Monday!

Are you passionate about conservation and sustainability? Become a MORAES Champion for Give Miami Day! Champions help raise money for organizations during Give Miami Day and spread the organization’s mission by sharing their information on social media and within their network. Help us reach our donor goals! Creating a Champion Page is fast and easy (swipe for more information and visit our bio for the link to create a page).

Happy MORAES Monday!

As we journey further into sea turtle nesting season, here's some stats so far!

Our first nest on Virginia Key Beach was on May 4!

We have had 36 nests so far this season!

We have conducted a total of 56 surveys this season. Trained volunteers survey the beach every (yes, every!) morning during turtle season to look for new nests and monitor existing ones.

***All sea turtle nesting activities are conducted by trained personnel under MTP-24-153***

Happy MORAES Monday! Sea turtle season is in full swing! Give the gift of a symbolically adopted sea turtle nest this summer (or get one for yourself)!

All symbolically adopted nests go directly to sea turtle conservation and you will be provide with updates and photos about your symbolically adopted nest.

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Link in bio to adopt your nest today!

Are you familiar with the Coral Triangle? 🪸 Swipe to learn about this magnificent, biodiverse region for marine ecosystems!

Happy World Ocean Day! 🌊

2024's WOD theme is "Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean and Climate"! What are you doing this June 8th to take action for our oceans' conservation and preservation?

Happy World Environment Day! 🌎

This year's theme is land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.

MORAES' Evolution of Darwin Beach Project focuses on land restoration through the removal of invasives and planting of native species! Creating a mosaic of native plant species ensures our dune ecosystems can regenerate naturally and thrive! 🌾

Happy MORAES Monday!

Did you know that MORAES recently co-authored a scientific paper?

MORAES worked with the Dolphin Research Center (DRC) in Marathon, Florida to bring you "Dolphins in Facilities are Instrumental in Developing Field Techniques".

This paper discusses the role of dolphins in managed care as being integral to refining new field techniques. MORAES and DRC are working with drones to take photos and obtain blow samples of wild dolphins. This is a relatively new, non-invasive method of collecting samples, so testing field methodologies using dolphins in managed care is essential.

Read the full paper HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bpwhfpMd-2n6YLUUTwHYzswJM7uHzjb3XTYNiSlDI4g/edit

For proper citation, please contact MORAES or DRC directly ([email protected])

Today we want to celebrate the life of Wendy Teas. Wendy was the sea turtle nesting permit holder for Virginia Key for over 30 years before passing the torch to the MORAES team. Her knowledge and passion for not only sea turtles, but all plants and animals will live on through all of the MORAES staff and volunteers she trained and worked beside. We are forever grateful for Wendy and will think of her with every sea bean, lost pair of flip flops and of course turtle nest we find on the beach each year.

Happy World Turtle Day! World Turtle Day was started in 2000 to raise awareness for the protection of turtles and their land-loving counterparts, tortoises, and to encourage people to protect these creatures and their declining natural habitats.

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Did you know? 187 out of 360 turtle and tortoise species are listed as threatened, with 127 being listed as endangered or critically endangered.

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Loggerhead turtles (the species that most commonly nests on Virginia Key Beach, are considered threatened. By monitoring nesting activity, MORAES is helping to conserve this beautiful species

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity!

Biodiversity is a necessary part of any functioning ecosystem. When plants and animals face extinction, biodiversity is lost. The International Day for Biological Diversity was started to raise awareness of the need for biodiversity and help people learn about its importance.

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Here at MORAES we plant native vegetation at Darwin Beach, in hopes of increasing the biodiversity along this coastline. Native ecosystems help support wildlife, providing a healthy habitat for many animals.

Happy MORAES Monday!

On Saturday, MORAES attended Turtlepalooza, hosted by Miami-Dade Sea Turtle Conservation () and Miami EcoAdventures (). MORAES tabled at the conservation village and helped to spread awareness and information about sea turtle nesting season and conservation.

Happy Endangered Species Day from all of us at MORAES!

Endangered Species Day was started to encourage people to learn about and take action to help protect threatened plants and animals.

At MORAES, we focus on protecting species that inhabit the Florida coasts, such as Loggerhead turtles. Take a minute to learn more about these magnificent creatures and other protected animals today to celebrate Endangered Species Day. 🐢

Happy MORAES Monday!

On May 4th, MORAES recorded the first sea turtle nest of the season! We are very excited for this turtle season and look forward to many more nests. If you have adopted a nest this season your nest will be assigned as we begin recording more nests, so stay tuned for updates!

Are you interested in learning more about sea turtles or wish to symbolically adopt a sea turtle nest of your own? Keep an eye on our Instagram and visit our website (link in bio) for more information!

Happy MORAES Monday!

And that’s a wrap! University of Miami students from the Rosenstiel’s Tropical Coastal Restoration Class have completed their project with the planting portion of Darwin Beach! Now that the invasive Australian Pines (Casuarina equisetifolia) have been removed and replaced with native species such as beach sunflower (Helianthus debilis), railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-caprae), and sea oats (Uniola paniculata), it’s time to monitor, water, and maintain the beach from here on out. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, and the support of Athletic Brewing and Surfing Evolution and Preservation Foundation, we can look at the beach with proud eyes and know that we’ve accomplished something truly amazing.

MORAES is still looking to do some general maintenance and trail work on the beach so if you know anyone or any organization interested in a private event, send them our way!

Happy MORAES Monday!

This past weekend, MORAES partnered with the UM Sustainability Club and Salt Waterfront Restaurant for our City Nature Challenge and Bio Blitz event! We kicked off the event with a beach cleanup by the Sustainability Club and then identified some native beach species using iNaturalist (swipe to the end to see our cutest find)! Volunteers also planted a multitude of native species on the beach such as sea oats, beach sunflower, and railroad vine. Participants enjoyed cold beer from Salt and some non-alcoholic brews from Athletic Brewing as a refreshing end to all that hard work! Thank you to all of our volunteers and supporters who showed up!

Happy Earth Day!

The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, and has been celebrated annually ever since as a way to bring awareness to our natural world and the plants and animals that live around us. Celebrate Earth Day by making an effort to contribute to sustainability: plant a tree, recycle, say no to plastic cups and straws, ride a bike or walk to work, or make an effort to conserve water and energy. The earth will thank you!