The News Wheel
No Comments

Honda Environmental Film Spotlights Efforts to Save Sea Turtle Habitat in South Carolina

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page
Sea Turtle Specialist, Leah Schwartzentruber, and Park Ranger, John Greider, –marking and protecting habitats

Sea Turtle Specialist, Leah Schwartzentruber, and Park Ranger, John Greider, –marking and protecting habitats

As part of Honda’s continuing efforts to support environmental initiatives in communities where its associates work and live, the Japanese automaker has released a new short film highlighting a program that protects endangered loggerhead sea turtles, “Generations: Sea Turtle Patrol of Edisto Beach State Park, SC.”

You can watch the seven-minute video here:

The film is part of the award-winning Honda Environmental Short Film Series. It spotlights the threats facing loggerhead sea turtles and the work that state rangers, marine biologists, and volunteers are doing to protect critical sea turtle nesting habitat at Edisto Beach State Park.

Sea Turtle Specialist Leah Schwartzentruber and Park Ranger John Greider, members of the team leading Edisto Beach State Park’s sea turtle conservation program, are the “stars” of the movie. The film’s backstory begins in the 1970s, when the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources began monitoring nesting activities after noting a precipitous decline in the number of nesting loggerhead turtles. Research shows only one out of 1,000 hatchlings have a chance of surviving to adulthood, which makes conservation efforts essential.

The film documents the efforts of Edisto’s Sea Turtle Patrol, following Schwartzentruber and Greider as they mark and protect nesting habitats, while also featuring smartphone footage of a 250-pound female turtle laying her eggs.

“While previous films in the Honda Environmental Series have highlighted remarkable initiatives dreamed up by Honda associates, we wanted to expand the series beyond Honda’s sustainability efforts,” said film series producer Marcos Frommer of Honda North America, Inc. “Honda is proud to share the story behind Edisto’s Sea Turtle Patrol and support its efforts to increase sea turtle populations.”

Honda is doing more than just documenting the conservation efforts—the automaker is also actively supporting them by donating its Honda Pioneer 700 and Pioneer 1000 side-by-side vehicles to Edisto Beach State Park, giving state rangers the ability to patrol long stretches of beach that serve as nesting habitat for loggerheads. It’s a form of local assistance, as the Pioneer 700 and 1000 are both manufactured at Honda of South Carolina Mfg., Inc. (HSC) in Timmonsville, South Carolina.