Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction

A true story about people coming together to save the sea turtles we love

"engaging and inspiring"

 - Peter Keough, The Boston Globe

Narrated by renowned scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, this feature-length independent documentary tells the larger natural history story of the world's rarest sea turtle, the Kemp's Ridley and how humans pushed a healthy population to the precipice of extinction and are now slowly helping it to recover.  From the beaches of Massachusetts to Mexico, Texas and Georgia, this film highlights the collaborative work that is being done to save a species from going extinct.

Late each autumn, hundreds of sea turtles strand on Cape Cod, Massachusetts due to hypothermia.  For more than 25 years, the New England Aquarium and the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary have worked together to rescue, rehabilitate and release thousands of these sea turtles, mostly Kemp's Ridleys, the world’s most endangered sea turtle.

Over the last decade, the number of stranded turtles has steadily increased, but the late autumn of 2014 saw an unprecedented event as more than 1,200 cold-stunned sea turtles washed ashore.  This massive wildlife emergency marshaled an inspiring response within and beyond Massachusetts, that reached from individuals to the federal government, involving over 10 states and 21 institutions.  It even showcases "the largest airlift of an endangered species probably anywhere in the United States, quite possibly the world."

A FILM ABOUT HEROISM & THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

Kemp's Ridley

Lepidochelys kempii

Having been on the planet for over a hundred million years, outliving the dinosaurs, nearly all of the seven sea turtle species are now on the brink of extinction due to human causes. The world’s smallest and most critically endangered sea turtle, the Kemp’s Ridley, may still face extinction in the next 50 years. This is the true story of courageous and compassionate people from New England to Mexico who are determined to save this ancient species.

Every year, during the bitter cold of November and December, sea turtles are stranding on the bayside beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a majority of them the Kemp’s Ridley. In 2014, a record-breaking season erupted with over a thousand sea turtles washing up cold-stunned and virtually lifeless. In a race against time, these sea turtles need to be rescued quickly or they will die.

A 3,000 MILE VOYAGE

The Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle can make a voyage as epic as the monarch butterfly, traveling over 3,000 miles from their nesting beaches in Mexico and Texas to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They have even been found as far north as Ireland and the Netherlands. This is a once in a lifetime journey for juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles that travel through ocean currents. Many will head south once colder temperatures arrive and live the remainder of their lives in the warm waters off the Gulf Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico.

TRAPPED IN CAPE COD BAY

Cape Cod juts out 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, trapping sea turtles migrating south when waters cool and days get shorter. Within the bay of Cape Cod lie two additional traps, disorienting sea turtles who are unable to navigate out of the Bay. With the continuous arrival of cold fronts and stronger winds, the sea turtles' bodies begin to shut down. Cold-stunned, they eventually wash up on the bayside beaches of Cape Cod.

What does it take to rescue stranded sea turtles? Passionate people who find meaning in saving sea turtles. They are often volunteers, who in the worst conditions, brave near freezing temperatures, ferocious winds and ice pellets to search for sea turtles after every high tide, whether during midday or at 3 in the morning.

COLLABORATION & VOLUNTEERISM

Ensuring the survival of an endangered species requires the collaboration and volunteerism of many who are willing to work long hours together, especially during times of crisis. During the 2014 sea turtle stranding season, the New England Aquarium Animal Care Center was beyond capacity, creating a backlog of sea turtles waiting for treatment and forcing a major relief effort to evolve.  The Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, the New England Aquarium Animal Care Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) took coordinated action to rescue, rehabilitate and release these ancient sea creatures back into the wild. The United States Coast Guard and the General Aviation Community assisted in transporting hundreds of these endangered sea turtles to numerous marine institutions in over 10 states outside of Massachusetts who aided in rehabilitating and releasing these stranded sea turtles.  24 of the sickest sea turtles from the 2014 sea turtle stranding season would later be released by the New England Aquarium Animal Care Center in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in Jekyll Island, Georgia.

THE NEED TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF THIS SPECIES

The ultimate goal for everyone involved is to see these sea turtles released back into the wild and contribute to the population growth of their species. Showing up in Cape Cod as juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, it will take at least 8 to 10 years before female turtles mature and travel back to their nesting beaches in Mexico and Texas. With their fate and future unknown, teams of Biologists from Mexico and the United States are working together to prevent this ancient creature from becoming extinct.

In 1965, at the age of 61, Ila Loetscher was recruited by Dearyl Adams in Brownsville, Texas to begin protecting Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle nests and hatchlings at their main nesting site in Rancho Nuevo, Mexico.  She became the first person in the United States and maybe even the world to begin rehabilitating injured sea turtles. She later formed Sea Turtle Inc. that to this day continues to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured sea turtles on South Padre Island in Texas.

In 1978, the Instituto Nacional de Pesca of Mexico, the U.S. National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department formed the Kemp’s Ridley Bi-National Restoration and Enhancement program to protect nesting beaches in Tamaulipas, Mexico and reestablish nesting beaches on Padre Island National Seashore in Texas. Since 1981, as requested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Gladys Porter Zoo has worked jointly with their Mexican colleagues to protect and increase the production of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The Kemp’s Ridley bi-national project is one of the longest bi-national projects, Mexico, U.S., in existence.  The research that has been accumulated over the last 37 years from this program has had a significant impact on the preservation of the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles.

HUMAN ACTIONS KILLING THEM

Beyond the individual, community, national and international efforts to rescue these sea turtles, the human interest to save and protect this species is pitted against the human actions that are killing them. With the aftermath of the BP oil spill, the warming of ocean temperatures, pollution of coastal waters, shoreline development, ongoing poaching, with some in the fishing industry now sewing up their turtle excluder devices, the verdict is still out on whether the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle will survive as a species.  All of the actions that are being taken in the United States, Mexico and around the world must continue for this ancient species to survive.

COLLABORATORS

SUPPORTERS

MEET THE TEAM

Jennifer Ting is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has been shown worldwide.  As co-founder of InterChange Media Art Productions, her projects have focused on the environment, food justice, education, health and current political issues and have been featured on National Geographic Channel and the United Nations. She holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:  

While we were filming, we realized the Mass Audubon community was in crisis mode and needed all of the help they could get, so we ended up going on our own sea turtle patrols, even at Midnight looking for stranded sea turtles.  The first time we went on our own patrol, we ended up saving 21 sea turtles and by the end of the season we had saved 39 sea turtles.  Some volunteers told us they had gone years without finding a sea turtle, but everyone we filmed this year found at least one, a few found over 80.  When we went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to film the New England Aquarium release 24 rehabilitated turtles that had been in the most critical condition this past year, they surprised us by saving the last turtle for us to release back into the wild.  It was a profound experience for us because we knew how much effort had been involved in improving the health of these turtles.  Many films about the environment focus on the negative harmful actions that humans inflict on the planet, other people and other living beings we are meant to co-exist with.  While this film will touch on that, it is also about the positive actions of individuals and communities who are committed to and dedicated to saving sea turtles.  Their passion is infectious and they are making a difference.  This film is meant to not only bring awareness to the plight of the Kemp’s Ridley and all sea turtle species who are in danger of extinction, but for more people to take action and prevent their extinction. 

Paul Gasek is an Emmy Award winner who has served as an Executive Producer, Director, Writer and Narrator over his 30-year career.  He was an Executive Producer and Senior Science Editor at Discovery Channel where he oversaw hundreds of hours of programming for a wide range of television shows, including six seasons of the Deadliest Catch.  Paul has overseen the editorial, creative and logistical production and supervision of projects on The Science Channel, Discovery Pictures, Animal Planet, Cronkite Ward, PBS Science Unit (WGBH), HITEntertainment and National Geographic Channel.  He has served as a guest lecturer at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and Boston University’s College of Communications.  

Selena Lauterer, president of Artemis Independent, has been fully immersed in the world of public broadcasting since 1998. She is Executive Producer for A CRAFTSMAN'S LEGACY and Producer of START UP, both on public television. She is a Producer of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning PBS series, A CHEF'S LIFE. Lauterer also runs Hogwild Films with her partner/husband, Kelly Davis. Previous to founding Artemis and Hogwild, she was co-owner of Pogo Promotions, LLC and even farther back, headed up the National Promotions Unit at Oregon Public Broadcasting. And most importantly, all this time — whatever professional title she’s held — she’s always been a lover of animals and an ardent animal welfare advocate. 

Chad Perkins (Animator & Motion Graphics Artist) is an award winning filmmaker and author.  He was executive producer of the web series Dead Grandma, starring Jon Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite).  He is a cinematographer, having worked as Director of Photography on films such as Grief or Madness, I Love You Puppet Man, and GODLIZZA, which won Grand Prize at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival short film competition.  He has over a decade of experience as a motion graphics and visual effects artist, having authored multiple editions of The After Effects Illusionist and How to Cheat in After Effects (both by Focal Press) based on his extensive knowledge of and experience with Adobe After Effects in post-production.  Chad was also hired by Adobe to write one of the Adobe Certified Instructor/Expert exams for getting certified in After Effects (for AE version CS3).  As one of the most prolific trainers on Lynda.com (one of the top 100 websites in the United States), he has authored over 30 training courses in video production, cinematography, video editing, visual effects, and more.  He has won awards for the quality of his training, including an Ava Platinum award and a Horizon Interactive award.  His tutorials on YouTube cumulatively have hundreds of thousands of views.  He holds a degree in Arts from Victor Valley College.

Saving Sea Turtles is Michele’s debut feature length documentary.  As co-founder of InterChange Media Art Productions, she has worked as a Producer, Director, Director of Photography, and Consulting Editor.  A mini-documentary she produced about the Beacon Food Forest showed at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil. She discovered and helped develop the series The Legend of Mick Dodge on the National Geographic Channel. She is the Executive Producer of Combating Ebola, a series of emergency response videos that aired throughout West Africa.  She was recently Assistant Director and Cinematographer for a short film entitled, "A Heart's Tale," directed by Tenzin Mingyur Paldron.   

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:  

Born and raised in Rhode Island, I spent summers on the beaches of Wellfleet, Massachusetts in Cape Cod. Everyone grows up hearing about the elusive great white sharks that are off our shores, but it was surprising to learn that the rarest sea turtle in the world was being found in these same waters.  Never did I see or hear anyone mention sea turtles while living in New England.  But in 2013, a Wellfleet Audubon Naturalist I met couldn’t stop talking about sea turtles.  Thus, began our journey to film Cape Cod’s annual sea turtle stranding season.  We wanted to find out what was happening to these stranded sea turtles and why they were stranding.  It shocked and awed me.  We began not knowing a single thing about the species, but what became known altered my perception and demanded a new source of inner strength that would change my life.  This film is about the energy, commitment and compassion it takes to save lives and prevent an ancient species from going extinct.  The initial curiosity I had to meet the first responders and everyone involved has lead me to now knowing so may heroes.  

Cheryl Ottenritter is Creative Director and Senior Mixer at MOZO Media Inc.  Over her 20-year career, Cheryl has been awarded an Emmy, several Telly, Monitor, and Gold Pro Max awards.  She is a member of the Motion Picture Sound Editors Guild, Cinema Audio Society and the Audio Engineering Society.  Cheryl has worked on projects for PBS, National Geographic, the Smithsonian Channel and Discovery.  Working on national advertising campaigns, she has mixed and sound designed for clients such as Volvo, Intel, IBM, Subway, MCI and New Balance.  She holds degrees in Music from Auburn University in Alabama and Mannes College of Music and The New School in New York City.  

COMMUNITY SCREENINGS

The 70-minute feature length documentary film premiered on January 14, 2017 in Dennis, MA in Cape Cod.  Here is a list of community screenings:

PUBLIC TELEVISION STATION BROADCASTS

A shorter, 57-minute broadcast version of the film will begin airing on public television stations throughout the U.S. in 2017.  Here is a listing of broadcast locations, dates and times:

  • January 2020 - December 2021 - Airing around the world on a cable television station

  • May 19, 2019 at 7:30 PM - Marblehead Community Access and Media - MHTV

  • April 15, 2017 at 8 PM - WEFS - Orlando, FL

  • April 16, 2017 at 3 AM - WEFS - Orlando, FL

  • April 16, 2017 at 3 PM - WCMU-TV 14 - Flint-Saginaw, MI

  • April 16, 2017 at 3 PM - WCMZ - Flint-Saginaw, MI

  • April 18, 2017 at 10 PM - KLCS PBS 58 - Los Angeles, CA

  • April 19, 2017 at 7 PM - WGCU - Fort Myers-Naples, FL

  • April 19, 2017 at 9 PM - KAWB - Minneapolis, MN

  • April 19, 2017 at 9 PM - KAWE - Minneapolis, MN

  • April 19, 2017 at 9 PM - KEDT - Corpus Christi, TX

  • April 23, 2017 at 7 PM ET, April 24, 2017 at 4 AM ET, April 27 at 6 PM ET - World Channel

  • August 30, 2017 at 7 PM PST - KCTS 9 - Seattle, WA

  • WGBH/Channel 2 - Boston, MA

  • WENH - Durham, NH

  • Florida's 5 WUFT-TV - Gainesville, FL

  • Georgia Public Broadcasting - WGTV, WNGH, WXGA

  • Idaho Public Television KIPT - Boise, ID

  • KVIE Public Television KVIE - Sacramento, CA

  • Maine Public Television Station - WCBB, WMEA

  • ValleyPBS - KVPT - Fresno, CA

  • Vermont PBS - WETK, WVTA, WVTB, WVER

  • West Virginia Public Broadcasting WNPB - Charleston, WV

  • WJCT Public Broadcasting - WJCT - Jacksonville, FL

  • WLIW21 - Plainview, NY

  • April 23, 2017 at 3 PM - WFYI1 - Indianapolis, IN

  • May 11, 2017 and May 25, 2017 at 4 PM - Vegas PBS Jackpot! Cox Cable 111 - Las Vegas, NV

PRESS/MEDIA 

Here are links to articles related to the documentary film:

PHOTOGRAPHS/STILLS

For high resolution stills of the production, please contact us at interchangemedia@gmail.com.

SCHEDULE A SCREENING

To schedule a screening in your community, please contact us at 206.323.1747 or at interchangemedia@gmail.com.

LICENSING CONTACT 

APT Worldwide (APTww.org) is licensing agent for Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction.
Please contact Judy Barlow, VP of International Sales, at +1-617-338-4455 or Judy_Barlow@aptonline.org.

LEGAL

Davis Wright Tremaine - Ceasar Kalinowski IV - caesarkalinowski@dwt.com

STORE

INSTITUTIONAL LICENSES 

Digital Streaming Site License (For Life of File Format)

$398.00

DVD STREAMING SITE LICENSE (For Life of File Format)

Digital Site Licenses allow colleges and universities to encode, locally host and stream the films to their students on a closed system and is in perpetuity.  We supply one digital file and one DVD copy. 

DVD + Colleges/Universities/Institutional License (includes shipping & handling)

$199.00

DVD + Nonprofit/Small Business License (includes shipping & handling)

$99.00

DVD + Library/K-12 License (includes shipping & handling)

$59.00

DVD + INSTITUTIONAL LICENSE (Colleges/Universities/institutions/Nonprofit/Small Business/Library/K-12)

Colleges, universities, college/university libraries, nonprofits, agencies, businesses and other institutions can now order the institutional edition of Saving Sea Turtles: Preventing Extinction at one facility.  The film is available as a DVD, which includes the full 70-minute feature film, plus 15 minutes of additional footage.

Institutional copies come with a limited public performance license that allows classroom use, library use and on-campus / on-site screenings that are free for students or members and not advertised to the general public.

DVD + Extra Facility License (includes shipping & handling)

$99.00

If you would like to screen the film at more than one institutional location, please purchase the Extra Facility License.

PUBLIC SCREENING LICENSES

DVD/BluRay+Non-Theatrical Public Community Screening License (includes shipping & handling)

$199.00

DVD/BluRay+Institutional Conference/Workshop Public Screening License (includes shipping & handling)

$199.00

DVD/BLURAY+INSTITUTIONAL PUBLIC SCREENING LICENSE

Public Community Screenings
If you’re screening the film for an audience, you can order the institutional copy of the film and we’ll allow you to use it for a one-time public screening.  We will provide you with a DVD package and BluRay screener copy to show the film. 

Institutional Conference/Workshop Public Screenings
If you’re screening the film for a conference or workshop, you can order the institutional copy of the film and we’ll allow you to use it for a one-time public screening that is free to conference/workshop attendees.  We will provide you with a DVD package and BluRay screener copy to show the film. 

Institutional Theatrical Public Screenings
If you would like to rent a theater and hold a benefit for your Institution, we charge a per ticket fee to screen the film.  Please contact us directly at 206.276.5573 or interchangemedia@gmail.com.  

HOME USE DVD

$24.99

HOME USE ONLINE STREAMING LICENSE

- Watch as much as you want for 3 days for $4.99
- Instant Streaming of the 70-Minute Feature Film
- Instant Streaming of Special Edition Bonus Material Extras - 27+minutes of short films
- Short Films include Sea Turtle Rescue, Sea Turtle Rehabilitation and Sea Turtle Necropsy (autopsy) 
- You will be able to view any short films that are uploaded in the future

RENT NOW

PAYMENT INFORMATION

If you would like to pay by check, please make checks out to: InterChange Media Art Productions. Please mail checks to: 

InterChange Media Art Productions
c/o Michele Gomes
1501 E. Madison Street, Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98122

If you are not able to pay the amounts above, please contact us directly.

SHIPPING INFORMATION

All prices above include shipping and handling.  Your order will arrive within 5-10 business days. 

DONATIONS

10% of the DVD proceeds will be donated to an institution, please choose the institution from the list in the "Donation" section.  

BOOKING CONTACT

Contact us now to learn more about booking the filmmakers for your next conference, screening, or special event:
Michele Gomes
206-909-3573
interchangemedia@gmail.com

INTERCHANGE MEDIA ART PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS SAVING SEA TURTLES: PREVENTING EXTINCTION NARRATION BY DR. SYLVIA EARLE DIRECTED, FILMED, PRODUCED & WRITTEN BY MICHELE GOMES JENNIFER TING EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS SELENA LAUTERER CHAD PERKINS PAUL GASEK ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS ROBERT PRESCOTT DANIEL BROCKLEY EDITED BY JENNIFER TING ANIMATIONS & MOTION GRAPHICS BY CHAD PERKINS SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR CHERYL OTTENRITTER RE-RECORDING MIXER ALEX ROLDAN SOUND DESIGNER RICK RUSH ORIGINAL SONG “WE CAN FIND A WAY” MUSIC & LYRICS BY LAURA & TRICIA KIEHNER PERFORMED BY TRICIA KIEHNER