Kermit And Miss Piggy Add Some Extra Magic To Tour de Turtles
If you’ve yet to pay a visit to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort on the Atlantic Coast then you don’t know what your missing. This property is a haven when it comes to catching the sun, sand, surf as well as a glimpse of the incredible sea turtles that nest at the beach each year! The beach near the property represents one of the most important areas for sea turtle nesting in the country. More than `18,000 turtles have been recorded since the Disney Conservation team began their program back in 2003.
This year, there are three amazing species of turtles nesting on the beach! Here’s a breakdown of the turtle population currently calling this coastline home:
So what’s the Muppet connection you ask? Two of the nests belong to Miss Piggy and Kermit! Not the actual characters you’ve come to know and love but rather superstar turtles participating in this year’s Tour de Turtles migration. The turtles were named after the beloved Muppet characters and in celebration of Muppets Now which is a brand new unscripted show on Disney+. There’s even more to celebrate with the news that the turtles that bare their names are celebrating the completion of a successful nesting season. It also marks the start of a journey to their foraging grounds.
Disney is collaborating with Sea Turtle Conservancy (creator of Tour de Turtles) to release satellite tagged turtles together for the last 13 years. With that in mind, we can actually follow along with the journeys of Miss Piggy and Kermit and our Muppet friends decided to join us!
As you can see from the video above, Miss Piggy is a loggerhead sea turtle. She is officially sponsored by the friends at Disney Cruise Line. This sponsorship is designed to raise awareness regarding harmful plastic debris in the world’s oceans and to encourage fans to clean up the waterways and to reduce the use of plastics. The reduction of plastic is something that The Walt Disney Company is increasingly committed to. As we’ve previously mentioned here at MickeyBlog, Disney Cruise Line for instance has eliminated plastic straws, cutlery, stirrers, shopping bags and condiments aboard Disney’s fleet of four ships as well as at Disney’s private island Castaway Cay.
Kermit is sponsored by Disney Conservation and is Disney’s first green sea turtle. He is being sponsored to raise awareness about artificial light pollution on nesting beach in the hopes that this will improve conditions for mother sea turtles as well as for the hatchlings.
What You Can Do To Protect Sea Turtles:
- In honor of Miss Piggy, minimize your use of single-use plastic, and dispose properly of all trash. All waterways lead to the ocean, and plastic floating in city canals eventually ends up in the sea.
- To help turtles like Kermit, turn off your lights at night. Even if you don’t live near the beach, many other species like birds and bats rely on dark skies to navigate safely.
- Support a conservation organization with time or contributions. Thanks to contributions from our guests, Disney has been supporting the Sea Turtle Conservancy for 20 years, helping to ensure the protection of sea turtles from Florida to Costa Rica to Panama.
- Learn more about sea turtles by visiting DisneyAnimals.com, checking out @DrMarkAtDisney on Instagram for all things animals, science and environment, and following Disney Conservation on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about the conservation work Disney does to support healthy oceans around the world.
Also keep track of the tracked turtles as the head out to sea at TourdeTurtles.org.
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