There are more than 100 specialty license plates in Florida.
Residents pay extra for them, and the money goes to a cause.
The second most popular plate in the state is titled "Helping Sea Turtles Survive." They went public in 1998, and there are more than 100,000 of them on the road supporting sea turtle conservation and research.
Kathy and Joey Satterfield have two sea turtle license plates. They pay an extra $23 for each of them every year, plus the one-time plate manufacturing fee.
"For us it's worth it, and it brings awareness,” Kathy said. “We're one of the largest nesting areas for loggerheads, and that's a big thing, so let's support them."
Marco became disoriented by artificial light and crawled away from the ocean.
— Douglas Soule (@DouglasSoule) August 26, 2025
Volunteers pulled the little loggerhead from a pool filter this week. Many other Florida sea turtle hatchlings aren’t so lucky.
Today, Marco passed a swim test at the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab. pic.twitter.com/HtnaT5N0d7
But the retired couple takes their support a step further.
They volunteer with a group that rescues hatchlings in North Florida's St. George Island. Last week, they pulled a tiny loggerhead from a pool filter.
It had crawled away from the gulf, disoriented by artificial light. The Satterfields named it Marco.
They took Marco to the small town of Panacea, home of the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory, which does marine wildlife research and rehabilitation. It also has an aquarium.
"Good breath. Good breath,” said Hunter Eichler, the head aquarist. “Watch him for a minute. He got one breath. We want to see him get two."
She's grateful for the Satterfields. Not just for the hatchling rescue, but for the license plates.
Around 70 percent of the plate proceeds go to a state conservation program. The rest goes toward grants.
ALSO READ: A sea turtle rescued after Hurricane Helene is released back into the Gulf
"It is directly helping endangered animals,” Eichler said. “It is funding organizations and nonprofits to do work that protects these animals.”
Her lab is one of those nonprofits. It receives grants from the state paid for by the turtle license plates.
The aquarium is filled with educational displays funded by the plates. There's signage, life-size turtle replicas, and even a sea turtle wheel of survival.
This year’s grant paid for a portable X-ray. Eichler unboxed it in front of a WUSF reporter last week. She said it will make such an exam much easier for the turtles.
“It's really hard for us to get a turtle to X-ray once, because we're transporting them off site right now, but to get them X-rayed again is even harder,” she said.
“This is an incredible feeling,” she continued. “I am so excited to be able to expand our program and help more endangered animals."
Just last year, the lab received a grant for a turtle transport van. The door fell off the old one.
“It was totally rusted through, because we're in saltwater environments rescuing these animals,” she said. “We were really lucky to receive this grant from the sea turtle license plate program so that we can respond and have a safe place to transport turtles all throughout the area, because we're the only sea turtle rescue from Panama City down to Clearwater.”
Eichler's team made use of the van a couple of days later.
They drove to a nearby beach to release a turtle they named Aggie.
Aggie, a green sea turtle, returns to the same sea that spit her out during Hurricane Helene.
— Douglas Soule (@DouglasSoule) August 28, 2025
Aggie arrived at the Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory injured and sick nearly a year ago.
“Hopefully, just like she healed, the communities affected can heal as well, and move forward… pic.twitter.com/ktHb9NW22w
Aggie was one of five green sea turtles Eichler cared for following Hurricane Helene. She was washed ashore, injured and sick, and the last to be released back into the wild.
Eichler placed her on the shore. Aggie rushed into the Gulf.
“She has cleared all of her infections,” Eichler told a crowd. “She’s gotten to about four times the size she was when she came in, and there is no reason to hold her anymore. She’s happy and healthy.”
Once back at the lab, Eichler stood a while beside Aggie's empty tank, tears in her eyes.
"It's gonna be weird not having her here,” she said. “But one thing I've learned after all this time — it doesn't stay calm for long. Another one always shows up.”
She plans to apply for more grants in the future. The next goal: an anesthesia machine, allowing the lab to do more in-depth surgeries.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
