BROWNSVILLE — As the only local among Sea Turtle Inc.’s 2018 crop of interns, Brownsville native Javier Parra serves as an unofficial guide to his colleagues, who come from places like Colorado, Michigan and Puerto Rico.
And though they’re of different ages and academic backgrounds, these young people are united by a love for sea turtles.
Parra, who graduated in December from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a degree in biology, acknowledged that landing an STI internship is competitive. The open application starts in fall, with a December deadline. Eligible applicants must have completed college with an undergraduate degree in a relevant field — though landing a slot really comes down to selling oneself.
“Really I guess you have to have a passion and show that passion in your interview and your resume,” Parra said. “It really is a great opportunity, the fact that they give us the hands-on opportunity to work with these animals.”
New interns hit the ground running in late March after a week of in-house training. A typical eight-hour shift at STI’s new South Padre Island turtle-rescue facility, which held its grand opening in February, includes prepping turtle food, manning the gift shop, interacting with visitors and giving public presentations. Parra said he especially enjoys fielding questions from little kids and teaching them what they can do to help the turtles.
STI rescues and rehabilitates injured turtles to release back into the wild, rescues and incubates eggs found on the beach, and also houses some permanent residents.
An intern’s day may also feature an eight-hour round trip to the Port Mansfield Cut and back again, on an all-terrain vehicle in search of nests or stranded turtles. It rained the whole way on a recent trip, Parra said. Nesting season typically starts in early April.
Interning at STI is hard work in addition to being fun and rewarding, though taking part in a turtle release makes it all worthwhile, Parra said. Last month the crew released 10 Atlantic green sea turtles that had washed up on the beach during the last freeze. It was STI’s first release of the season. Internships start in late March and end in early August, coinciding with the close of the season.
Parra said sea turtle hospitals are very rare and that he’s surprised how many people in the Valley don’t know the Island has one. The interns, meanwhile, can’t help but bond with the turtles. One of Parra’s favorite patients is a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle named Dakota.
“She’s a pretty looking turtle, but also when you see her swim she’s very easy going and very fun to watch,” he said. “They have different personalities you can observe. When they’re hanging around each other, you can see how they’re all a little bit different.”
