Introducing: Sea Change

Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant

WNET

Science, Pets & Animals, Nature, Kids & Family, Natural Sciences

4.9 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sign up for Nature's Newsletter: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/newsletter/ This is a special episode from Sea Change, the nature podcast from WWNO and WRKF. Sea Change brings you stories that illuminate, inspire – and sometimes enrage – as they dive deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. In this specific episode, they take you on a journey to the remote Chandeleur islands to try to find the most endangered sea turtle on the planet, Kemp’s Ridley. After 75 years, these mysterious turtles have been discovered on the shores of Louisiana. It’s a story of loss and restoration – of hope and heartbreak. To listen to more important stories like this one, follow Sea Change on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's 6 o'clock in the morning, and I'm standing next to a short tarmac runway in Belchase,
0:06.0	Louisiana, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
0:09.0	It's a pretty grueling flight.
0:11.0	Okay.
0:12.0	So most people that we've brought up get sick.
0:15.0	If you get sick, just use the bag and we're good to go.
0:19.0	That's Todd Baker.
0:20.0	He and Matt Weigel are the two state biologists I've been talking to for months,
0:24.5	begging them to take me with them to the most remote corner of Louisiana.
0:28.9	They fly there weekly as part of their job to help save a rapidly disappearing coast.
0:33.7	But very few others have ever been.
0:36.2	Todd's prepping me for the flight.
0:37.6	Well, we're going to Chandler Islands, which is about 22 miles south of Gulfport, Mississippi,
0:43.2	as the crow flies, or as the seaplane flies.
0:45.4	The Chandelers. I've heard about these isolated islands for years, and always in almost
0:51.5	mystical terms. The crescent-shaped string of islands loosely hugging the toe of Louisiana's boot aren't easy to get
0:58.7	to.
0:59.5	You either need hours across the open Gulf by boat, or, if you're lucky like I am today,
1:04.7	by seaplane.
1:06.2	So despite the apparently high probability I'm about to need a barf bag, I am feeling very lucky.
1:12.8	Set aside primarily for birds, and you're going to see plenty of those today too.
1:18.5	The chandeliers are a globally important bird habitat, and I'm hoping you'll get to see some of the rare
	...

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