A dedicated figure in eastern North Carolina animal conservation has died.
For more than 50 years, Jean Beasley worked to protect sea turtles, safeguarding more than 3,000 nests and overseeing the emergence of nearly 250,000 hatchlings since she started collecting data in 1995.
She also founded the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in memory of her daughter in 1998.
Karen was an advocate for sea turtle conservation, who started the Topsail Turtle Project, and after she died from leukemia in 1991, Jean continued her daughter’s work.
Since it opened, the Karen Beasley center has treated more than 1,600 sick and injured sea turtles.
Officials with the rescue said Jean Beasley was surrounded by loved ones when she died early Tuesday morning at the age of 90.
