The Island Turtle Team is comprised of nearly 200 volunteers who patrol the beach each morning searching for loggerhead sea turtle nests. Each year, the team operates under Marine Turtle Program Permit No. 517 from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
The team includes volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. But did you know that babies just weeks old also head out at dawn to search for new nests and monitor those that have already been laid?
This season, two young mothers have been carrying their newborns in slings while conducting patrols. Coincidentally, both are medical doctors as well as new mothers.
Penny Huebsch Smith has patrolled the south end of the Isle of Palms since 2017 with her friend Marilyn Markel. She moved to Charleston from Indian Land in 2014 to attend the College of Charleston. She graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in chemistry.
After taking a few years off to work as an EMT, medical scribe and medical assistant, she began medical school at MUSC in 2021 and graduated in May 2026. She will begin a transitional year with MUSC's Department of Family Medicine before starting a dermatology residency at MUSC in July 2027. Penny and her husband enjoy living in the Lowcountry, and she hopes to remain in the area and practice dermatology.
On May 20, her daughter Zelda was just 6 days old when Penny discovered Nest No. 2 near the 5A beach access path. Team partners Kathy Jahn and Karen Thompson were sharing the section from Breach Inlet to Ninth Avenue.
The other new Turtle Team mother is Shelli Ciandella, who lives on the Isle of Palms with her husband and new baby, Sophie. Shelli grew up in Mount Pleasant and loves to surf. She and her husband had their first date surfing at 31st Avenue and recently moved into their dream home on Hartnett Boulevard in time for her first season on the Turtle Team.
Shelli is a sports medicine attending physician at MUSC and completed her training there three years ago. She also completed a fellowship at the Andrews Institute in Florida. She currently serves as a team doctor for the College of Charleston, the South Carolina Stingrays and the Credit One Charleston Open.
On May 29, Shelli and 2-week-old Sophie were the first to spot Nest No. 5 near 40th Avenue while covering the beach at dawn with Kimberly Mallos and Bill Evans.
As Shelli said, “Sophie was thrilled to find her first loggerhead nest!”
The Turtle Team is indeed fortunate to have such strong, smart and dedicated mothers working to find and protect loggerhead nests. Let's hear it for our “Babes on the Beach!”