Talking Turtles With Tourists: Evaluating the Relative Conservation Impacts of Different Types of Sea Turtle Education Programs at Jekyll Island, GA, USA

Abstract

We used a pre-post survey approach to compare learning and conservation-focused behavioral outcomes for tourists participating in two different types of field-based wildlife education programs at the Jekyll Island Authority Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) on Jekyll Island, GA, USA: a low-interaction program ( n = 59) led by education guides that featured minimal direct contact between visitors and sea turtles, and a high-interaction program ( n = 42) led by turtle biologists that featured more intimate interactions between visitors and turtles. Both programs revealed comparable positive effects on participants’ knowledge of sea turtles and intent to engage in turtle advocacy behaviors, but neither type of program had a major influence on pro-turtle attitudes or participation in turtle-friendly beach behaviors (partly because scores for these variables were high entering the program). Results suggest managers and educators at wildlife tourism destinations could employ different program delivery methods while still achieving similar education and conservation goals.