Bullis Charter School students and teachers will host Stanford University scientist George Shillinger, co-founder of the Great Turtle Race, an international effort to highlight the plight of the leatherback turtle by monitoring its journey across the Pacific Ocean.
The two-week, 6,000-mile conservation event features 11 sponsored turtles monitored with satellite tags as they swim from feeding areas on the U.S. West Coast and nesting sites in Indonesia toward the International Dateline in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
According to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, the turtle's numbers have diminished from about 115,000 to less than 5,000 in the past two decades.
The event seeks to raise funds to protect the turtle's nesting areas and raise awareness about what the public can do to help.
This year's race will include scientists, conservationists and teachers in China, in an effort to educate children in China about the endangered turtle.
Viewers can track the progress of the turtles at http://www.greatturtlerace.com.
