“Mertle”
Bringing together art, awareness, and advocacy.
Love turtles? Get up and personable with the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle statues around the Galveston Island. Take a “Colorful Turtles About Town Tour”.
The Colorful Turtles About Town Tour is a Galveston community art project created by Turtle Island Restoration Network and Clay Cup Studios. It showcases the City of Galveston and the conservation efforts of Turtle Island Restoration Network to protect endangered sea turtles on the upper Texas coast.
For 30 years, Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) has been a leading advocate for the world’s oceans and marine wildlife.
Their work is based on science, fueled by people who care, and effective at catalyzing long-lasting positive change that protects the likes of green sea turtles, whale sharks, and coho salmon.
By working with people and communities they preserve and restore critical habitats like the redwood-forested creekbanks of California to the biodiverse waters of Cocos Island.
The Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) accomplishes its mission through grassroots empowerment, consumer action, strategic litigation, hands-on restoration, environmental education, and by promoting sustainable local, national and international marine policies.
Now turtle lovers of all ages have the opportunity to see 50+ colorful Kemp Ridley sea turtle statues that have been installed around Galveston Island. This project began is 2018.
Businesses and organizations graciously sponsored the turtles while local artists were commissioned to give each one its own personality and meaning.
Visiting the Colorful Turtles About Town statues is a FREE, fun, and a safe outdoor activity the entire family will enjoy.
My sister and I enjoyed finding all of the colorful turtles on the free, self-guided “Turtles About Town Tour” in October of 2021. We saw a few turtles that we installed since the map was published. To help you find the turtle statues, here is a link to a map to download, Turtles About Town – Google My Maps. When you see a sea turtle, take a “selfie” and be sure to tag Turtle Island Restoration Network in your images on Facebook and Instagram. Use the hashtag #TurtlesAboutTown!
Here are a few of the turtles, we saw on the tour.
“Spirit of Sea Aggieland”
Location: Texas A&M University at Galveston, 200 Seawolf Pkwy, Galveston, TX 77554
Artist: Nick Dominique
“For this turtle, the inspiration came from the city of Galveston and the Texas A&M Galveston Campus.”
Sponsor: The Department of Liberal Studies, Texas A&M University at Galveston
“Zeke”
Location: Galveston Naval Museum at Seawolf Park, 100 Seawolf Park Blvd, Galveston, TX 77550
Artist: Brian “Visker” Mahanay & Hannah Claudia James
“Zeke was inspired by one of our museum’s main attractions, the USS Cavalla WWII submarine.”
Sponsor: The Galveston Naval Museum
“Dorado”
Location: The Bryan Museum, 1315 21st St., Galveston, TX 77550
Artist: Ray Cosgrove
“Sun reflections and a breath of air.”
Sponsor: The Bryan Museum
“Sunshine”
Location: City of Jamaica Beach, 16628 Termini-San Luis Pass Road, Galveston 77554
Artist: Doug Hiser and Trinity Torres
Help protect sea turtles, whales, salmon, and other marine species from extinction and suffering.
Donate Today. Here’s the link: Make a Contribution to Support Ocean Conservation (seaturtles.org)
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Featured Image: “Mertle”, the turtle.
Location: 2219 Post Office St., Galveston, TX 77550
Sponsor: Tom’ s Galveston Real Estate