For the Turtles

by | Mar 24, 2021 | Online Exclusives, Surf City

Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center announces its new executive director, Kathy Zagzebski.

The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (KBSTRRC) board of directors and staff are pleased to welcome new Executive Director Kathy Zagzebski.

Sea Turtle Rescue Karen Beasley NC

Clearly, no one person will ever be able to fill the very large footprint of founder and current executive director Jean Beasley, but after more than four decades in the turtle business, Beasley is retiring this spring to spend much of each year with her family in Tennessee.

Zagzebski has more than 26 years of experience working with stranded marine animals not only on the N.C. coast, but also on the beaches of Georgia, California, Hawaii and Massachusetts, where she was the executive director and president of the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay.

This winter she had the monumental task of admitting, caring for and relocating more than 200 cold stunned turtles, several of which are now receiving further treatment in the KBSTRRC hospital.

Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue Topsail Beach NC

“I’m excited to join the fabulous team at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center,” Zagzebski says.

“I feel honored to carry forward Karen Beasley’s dream and Jean Beasley’s wonderful legacy. It’s such a privilege to help sick and injured sea turtles recover so they can be released back to their ocean home!”

Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is located in Surf City.

For more information, visit seaturtlehospital.org.

Photography by Unique Media and Design

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