Rescuers saved 47 sea turtles at Navarre Pier in 2022. New van will help them do more.

Ralph Agnew and Bob Blais are volunteers for the sea turtle rescue team at the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center (NBSTCC) who chat and relax at the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier until a call comes in for them to save a sea turtle and they spring into action.

Those calls keep them busy.

The Navarre Beach Fishing Pier is the No. 1 pier in Florida for successful sea turtle rescues, according to NBSTCC, which responded to 123 sea turtle rescue calls in 2022 and saved 47 sea turtles. In comparison to last year, there were 94 rescue calls and 55 sea turtles successfully rescued.

Volunteers are able to rescue so many because of the fast response times, the equipment they built and the relationship between the NBSTCC and fishermen on the pier, where they use the “Responsible Pier Initiative” signs to provide communication between fishermen, pier staff and NBSTCC leadership.

“We started going out there and talking to the fishermen and establishing that relationship. We have a really good relationship (with the fishermen),” Agnew said. “Now what happens is that instead of calling FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission), they call the head of the pier, or the gift shop, and the pier has a list of our names. They start at the top and they work their way down.”

Now with the help of donations from the community, NBSTCC will have a new transport van to be able to rescue more sea turtles at the pier or the beach.

More: Navarre BeachMore sea turtles hooked by anglers at Navarre Beach Fishing Pier than any pier in Florida

More: Loggerhead Sea TurtleAfter a disastrous 2021, Pensacola sea turtle activists hoping for better nesting season

The van is a huge help because there are days where the center will have to rescue multiple turtles in one day, with volunteers using their personal vehicles.

The van will also be used for outreach and education events such as busing students to the center to show them shells, skeletons and live animals.

The Navarre Beach Fishing Pier is the longest pier on the Gulf Coast and many other piers don't go as far as as where sea turtles swim, which drives up the number of turtles that need rescued.

The currents and temperature are also constant so sea turtles will stay around for about 10 months of the year. There is also an artificial reef where turtles will go for food source and will travel for nesting areas or mating, often running into the pier.

The sea rescue team have had to create their own equipment including the apparatus Agnew built when the team started to run into mature sea turtles that could grow to over 100 pounds. Agnew created a  purposefully-designed net, a deer hoist and a UTV for the rescues. The net resembles a miniature U.S. Coast Guard rescue basket and is connected to the deer hoist, which in turn is attached to the back of a UTV.

The UTV is always close to the pier with the net and deer hoist ready for any rescue at any moment of the day.

“We get so many visitors here that are not from here. They're under the impression that they're going to get in trouble and that they're hurting the animal or causing harm and we try to make it an educational point,” said Alex Fox, the center’s marine biologist. “ We get them involved in the rescue aspect. You're helping us rescue this turtle, you're part of this experience. And so we don't want them to feel bad. We want them to feel like ‘wow look what I did, look what I got to be a part of, this is very special,' because it is very special.”

After the rescue, the team takes the sea turtle into their own conservation, almost like EMT’s, and the turtles are tagged to get as much information about them for data and research purposes. Once they are comfortable and ready, they are taken to a care facility such as the Gulfarium C.A.R.E. in Fort Walton Beach or Gulf World Marine Institute, Inc. in Panama City Beach.

Their length of time at the facilities depends on the severity of injuries, which may be internal because turtles will eat hooks or plastic bags that get lodged in their throats or stomachs.

Community members can help with conservation efforts by donating to NBSTCC through their Facebook. There is also a wish list for the center and events such as Trash Bashes where the community comes together every month to pick up trash  on Navarre Beach.

The van has been one of their largest gifts.

As part of the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center’s guest-appreciation effort, the center is inviting the public to the "Van Reveal" to thank them for raising sufficient funds to wrap the brand-new van.

Festivities will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and will include two food trucks, a bounce house, face painting, games and educational activities with free admission to the center that day. The Van Reveal is projected for 11 a.m.

Holly Forrester, a volunteer at the center, sees how the van will help with advertising the conservation center, who they are, and what they do for sea turtles such as current resident, Sweet Pea.

“The outreach of the vehicle being wrapped shows how much more we can spread the word about sea turtles, about our center, about conservation and about Sweet Pea,” Forrester said. “We'll have all those things on the van itself as we drive through to the care center every time.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 47 sea turtles were rescued from Navarre Beach Fishing Pier in 2022