Turtle Trackers History

Originally from Connecticut, Karen Kindermann moved to Greenville, SC from Rochester, MI in 2008 and loved vacationing on Hilton Head Island. Upon retirement, Karen moved to the island in July 2014. Walking the Sea Pines beach became her favorite pastime.

In late spring of 2015, Karen happened upon two ladies near the beach walkway. One had her arm in a significant hole, extracting 'ping pong' balls, while the other put them in a bucket.

The person with her arm in the hole was Amber Kuehn, marine biologist and director of Sea Turtle Patrol Hilton Head Island, and she was relocating sea turtle eggs. With her curiosity aroused, Karen attended a Turtle Talk at the Sonesta Resort.

As her sea turtle enthusiasm and curiosity grew large, Karen enlisted friends Melissa Krauss, Mary Ryan and Jackie Rosswurm, all fellow members of the Women’s Club of Sea Pines, to form a turtle interest group with Amber as mentor and advisor.

The first meeting of Sea Pines Turtle Trackers occurred on April 4, 2016, in Mary Ryan's living room. Other attendees included Sigrid Carlson, Babs Erny, Cathy George, and Donna Tuttle. Through their efforts, the first Sea Pines Turtle Talk was held two months later on Wednesday, June 8th. By then, Turtle Trackers had attracted new members Colleen Thompson, Mary Page Boyd, Deb Gillette, Kathy Jo Holleran, Linda Crowe, Annette Walker, Christine Beal, Rita Kernan, for a new total of 16.

Intent on building her organization, and with the first meeting date now confirmed, Karen set about filling a room that accommodated 135 people. She had no budget and slim connections. A flyer was created and widely distributed, with a strong focus on FREE. No charge for the Turtle Talk or at Sea Pines gate.

That first Turtle Trackers meeting had an audience of 155 interested folks for Amber’s presentation. From that beginning, turtle interest spread with a consistently growing membership.

A significant assist came from Bob Gossett, owner of the Salty Dog in South Beach in Sea Pines. Bob allowed the Turtle Trackers to set up a Sea Turtle Learning Station under a canopy near the popular ice cream window on Sundays and Mondays,

Plus, a "Be Cool - Keep the Turtles in the Dark" tee shirt was designed and produced by the Salty Dog, who donated $5 from every shirt sold to Turtle Trackers. This generous donation program continues to this day and has provided thousands of dollars for Turtle Trackers outreach programs.

From this start, Turtle Trackers was up and running, providing sea turtle awareness and protection programs not only in Sea Pines but throughout Hilton Head Island. Today, Turtle Trackers has over 500 members island-wide, with five chapters in addition to the original Sea Pines group.

Karen is still an avid Turtle Tracker walking the Sea Pines beach, offering greetings, education, encouragement, and southern hospitality to all she encounters.