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Public sea turtle watches serve as effective environmental education

Abstract To understand both immediate and longer-term effects of a short duration, interpretive wildlife tourism program, we studied responses from participants in a sea turtle watch program. This program comprised an interpretive presentation followed by an opportunity to view a nesting loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). We conducted 37 programs in 2013 and 2014, for 843 participants, of whom 70.5% were able to see a nesting turtle. We measured participant attitudes, knowledge, intention to act, and long-term behavior change. Initial participant responses indicated prior interest in nature and environmental topics, and a knowledge base focused on biological sea turtle information. After the interpretive presentation, participants chose to provide conservation-related information as opposed to natural history-related information. Intention to engage in conservation behaviors was high following the turtle watch experience, regardless of whether a turtle was seen. The conservation value of our turtle watch program is expressed through conservation-focused knowledge acquisition by participants and their high post-program intention to engage in behaviors benefiting sea turtles, both of which precede long-term behavior change in an interdisciplinary model of behavior change.