Annual ‘Sit for a Cause’ fundraiser helps protect sea turtles in Ocean Isle Beach

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Dozens of people gathered at the Ocean Isle Beach Pier on Tuesday for an annual fundraiser that had participants intentionally sitting in the path of the rising tide to help protect nesting sea turtles.

The Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization hosted its annual “Sit for a Cause,” where participants lined up along the shoreline in beach chairs and remained seated as high tide rolled in. The last three people still in their chairs won the friendly competition.

Among the participants were Vaughn Call and John Agee, who traveled about 2,000 miles from New Mexico to take part in the event.

“We came out here just for this… we are desert rats,” Call said.

More than 30 people participated in this year’s event.

Island Coordinator Deb Allen said donations from the fundraiser will help pay for turtle-friendly amber LED streetlights along the beachfront. She said traditional white lights can confuse newly hatched sea turtles as they make their way from nests to the ocean.

“White lights when they are on at night, it looks like the moon in the sky and when those babies come out of the nest, all they are trying to do is get home,” Allen said. “They use the moon and light in the sky to navigate them to their ocean home. When we replace them with amber lights, they don’t see that and they don’t crawl into danger.”

Allen said eight of the beach’s 20 oceanfront streetlights have already been replaced with amber LEDs. Funds raised during the event will go toward replacing the remaining 12 lights and covering the increased utility costs so the expense does not fall on the town.

As the tide continued to rise, participants repeatedly moved their chairs closer to the water before eventually bracing against the incoming waves.

Tawny Fox finished in third place, Vikki Gaver took second, and Sam Cotton claimed first place.

“I had to dig the chair in as much as I could and brace for the waves,” Cotton said.

The event was free to attend, but donations were encouraged. Allen said the organization holds the fundraiser each year shortly after the Fourth of July holiday to support local sea turtle conservation efforts.