Raye Ann Osborne Wins SCDNR Stranding Award

On October 11 at the statewide gathering for the South Carolina Marine Turtle Nesting Projects, our own Raye Ann Osborne was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award for Sea Turtle Strandings. The plaque was presented by Jeff Schwenter who is in charge of strandings at the SCDNR office at Fort Johnson on James Island. Raye Ann was nominated for this because of her willingness and responsiveness to be on call to document, photograph and submit detailed reports and photographs to the federal Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. This often involves burying them on the beach which can be a smelly and sad job. Our team has now submitted 26 stranding reports in 2025, Most of these were dead, but some were taken to the SC Aquarium and successfully rehabilitated. We may have more before the end of the year.

CONGRATULATIONS, RAYE ANN!