Inwater Research Group

10/12/2026

We recently had the privilege of donating $20,000 worth of our K–12 educational programs to the School District of Indian River County, bringing hands-on marine conservation education to elementary, middle, and high school students!

Through real-world conservation lessons, students build critical thinking, empathy, creativity, teamwork, and environmental stewardship while strengthening their connection to the marine and coastal ecosystems in their own backyard. Not every student will grow up to be a scientist, but our hope is that every student walks away with a greater sense of wonder, curiosity, and responsibility for the natural world.

This $20,000 investment in local students was made possible by the National Save The Sea Turtle Foundation, Florida Power & Light (through its charitable arm, the NextEra Energy Foundation), and an anonymous donor. Your support puts meaningful conservation experiences directly into students’ hands and helps inspire the next generation of ocean stewards. Thank you for making this possible! 🐢💙

Interested in bringing our Traveling Trunks to your school or district? Visit inwater.org/trunks.

10/09/2026

In case you missed it! 🐢

St. Lucie County highlights IRG’s nighttime nesting beach surveys, where our biologists work through the night tagging female sea turtles, including leatherbacks, loggerheads, and green turtles.

This project, launched in 2024, is part of a larger, ongoing effort to assess the population abundance and dynamics of sea turtles that utilize our coastal waters and beaches throughout their life cycle.

Check it out!

InWater Water Research Group works with the St. Lucie County Board...

10/08/2026

That's a wrap on Season 3! 🎉🐢

Our 2026 nighttime tagging season was a record-breaking year! Our field technicians documented 2,074 total turtle capture events involving 1,114 individual turtles (979 loggerheads, 124 green turtles, and 11 leatherbacks). This season set new project records for both loggerhead captures and the total number of captures and individual turtles documented. We’re also seeing more returning turtles, with 133 individuals nesting in our project area this year after being documented in 2024 or 2025.

These results mark an exciting milestone for the project and highlight the importance of long-term research in understanding how sea turtles use our local coastal habitats and how their populations may change over time.

A huge thank you to our nighttime technicians for all their hard work this season and the countless hours spent on the beach at night collecting this valuable data. This research wouldn’t be possible without their dedication!

Disclaimer: Photos were taken at night using long-exposure photography. No white lights were used.

10/07/2026

Join us October 20th! 🐢

Our October Virtual Series session is Tuesday, October 20. 🐢

Sea turtles in your classroom
6:00 PM ET, about an hour
With Rebecca Mott, Director of Education at Inwater Research Group

Rebecca has a degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. She spent her first years after college as a K-5 classroom teacher, then moved into informal education so she could do science and teaching at the same time.

Since 2014 she's run education programs at Inwater Research Group, for students in Florida and well beyond it. Her take: the future of conservation is kids.

She'll cover what Inwater offers teachers and how to get it into your classroom.

Free!

Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FYhWiG04T6GybbY_DLfCQQ

Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send follow-up materials.

10/05/2026

Last month, we celebrated National Assisted Living Week with a very special Turtles To Go outreach program at the Palms at Saint Lucie West!

Nearly 70 participants joined us, including residents of The Palms and young students and teachers from The Children's Garden Academy in Port St. Lucie. Together, the “littles and elders” became marine biologists for the day, working side-by-side to examine our life-like sea turtle models just as real researchers do in the field.

Participants identified their turtle species, took measurements, recorded data, and discussed an important question faced by sea turtle researchers: Does this turtle need rehabilitation, or is it ready for release? What made the day especially meaningful was seeing generations come together through a shared love of learning and the ocean.

National Assisted Living Week is about celebrating and honoring seniors, and we can’t think of a better way to do that than by creating opportunities for connection, curiosity, laughter, and learning across generations. Thank you to The Palms at St. Lucie West and The Children’s Garden Academy for making this such a rewarding experience.

10/02/2026

Earlier this week, we had an incredible time celebrating our 25th Anniversary with our lovely staff! 🐢💙🎉

It was a special evening filled with stories, accomplishments, memories, and plenty of laughs. We are incredibly grateful to the founders who started IRG and made everything we are today possible. We’re equally proud of the dedicated team who continues to carry our mission forward and work toward a future of sea turtle conservation for generations to come.

A huge thank you to Frida's Cocina & Tequila for hosting our anniversary celebration! From the delicious food and drinks to the wonderful atmosphere, it was the perfect setting to celebrate this milestone together.

Here’s to 25 years of IRG—and to many more years of research, education, conservation, and making a difference for sea turtles!

09/29/2026

Check out the work of our amazing nighttime tagging crew! 🐢

Ever wonder what goes into monitoring and tagging sea turtles along Hutchinson Island? Inwater Research Group works with the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners to monitor nesting sea turtles and collect valuable data that helps researchers better understand and protect these incredible animals.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the process here https://youtu.be/E5DgU9qFrfU?si=VNSyKEbGGGEENkoC

09/29/2026

It's time to enter our 25th Anniversary Trivia Challenge! 🐢🎉

Here’s how to play:
1. Look for clues and hints hidden throughout our recent social media captions.
2. Submit your answers via our online quiz: https://forms.gle/2LGzAeFMNj7oU9ZC7
3. The participant with the most correct answers can win this exclusive IRG prize pack!

In the event of a tie, the winner will be selected at random from the tied entries.
The 25th Anniversary Trivia Challenge closes Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 11:59 PM EST. One entry per person. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years or older and a U.S. resident to participate.

This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Instagram or Facebook.

09/27/2026

Do you love IRG as much as we do? 💙

There’s a lot that makes IRG special, but our team is at the heart of it all. From time spent in the field and on the water to connecting with our community through education, every day brings new opportunities to make a difference in sea turtle conservation.

We asked our staff to share a few words about what they love most about working at IRG, and their answers highlight just how much goes into the work we do. After 25 years, we’re incredibly proud of the people, passion, and purpose that continue to drive our work forward — and we’re excited for what the next 25 years will bring!