IN THE SPOTLIGHT: From Illinois crime lab to turtle volunteer, Arlene Hall

Her byline in the Beacon should be enough of a clue that Arlene Hall is someone worth getting to know. She is the one who has been writing about the happenings with the Boca Grande Sea Turtle Association. She is also the group’s secretary, and one of its most dedicated volunteer turtle patrollers.

For those who have not gotten to know her yet, let this be your opportunity to do so. 

Arlene and her husband Keith have lived in South Gulf Cove for about three years. They moved to the area from Illinois after spending a week or two every summer since the 1980s in Boca Grande. 

“It’s my happy place,” she declared. 

Arlene is a walker and a runner. She loves going to the beach and getting her exercise. Since she had been doing that in the summer months, she was always encountering sea turtle nests dotting the beaches. She was fascinated by them and would often stop and talk to the turtle patrol volunteers.

If she could have become a member of the patrol she would have, but she was never on the island long enough to make that work. That is, until three years ago, when she and her husband both retired from their jobs, decided to move to Southwest Florida, and built their house close enough to Boca Grande that she could become an official BGSTA volunteer.

“Every year we’d come down on vacation and I’d get out there early in the morning and ask them all sorts of questions,” Arlene said. “And every year they would let me walk with them and let me ask questions. I was very fortunate to get a lot of information from them. And then I said, ‘When I retire – when I grow up – I want to be a turtle patroller.’ So it’s kind of like our dream has come true. My husband came down to do all his golfing, and I came down to do the turtle things.”

Before she “grew up” Arlene had a pretty substantial job. She was a forensic scientist. In fact, she was the Commander of the Illinois State Police Crime Lab system. This included Chicago, East St. Louis, Rockfort, the whole state. She continues to teach communications for the American Society of Crime Lab Directors.

“We have a leadership course,” she explained, “and I am one of the instructors. I teach communication, and part of it is media relations, so I teach crime lab managers how to talk to the media and things like that.” She is amused that she is now “practicing what I’m preaching” as she is writing a column for the Boca Beacon. She is finding it both fun and challenging, she said. 

In high school, Arlene was editor of the school paper, but never expected to be writing for a professional newspaper. Science was always her thing. 

“I was always interested in science, so, from the seventh grade I knew I wanted to do something in science,” she said. “At one point I was going to be a marine biologist, but I lived in Illinois, so that didn’t work out very well. Instead, I got into forensic science.” 

She immediately jumped to her work with the turtle patrol: “When I saw the turtle patrol people, I thought, gosh, this is a great way to do science kind of stuff, but be on the beach.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission oversees the protection of sea turtles in the state, she said. It needs volunteers, like the turtle patrol, to collect a great deal of information on the turtles’ nesting habits. In the last year, the FWC has modernized some of that information collection, and it has made it easier on the volunteers.

That had not really been a difficult part of the job for Arlene, though. She enjoys gathering data. She thrives on collecting evidence.  

“After having worked in crime labs, I’m all about the data,” she said. “I like dealing with the evidence, and that kind of stuff. It’s really interesting to me, to go out there on the beach in the mornings and wonder what was I gonna find today. Of course, some days, there’s nothing happening, so those days you just have a very nice walk on the beach.”

She went on: “So, I like the science part of it, but those darn hatchlings, they’re so cute!” That’s the part that really gets her up in the mornings and out onto the beach. 

“Once in a while we’re lucky enough to see one [a hatchling]. It’s really fascinating to think, too, that these things are how many millions of years old, and they just do their thing, whether we’re out there patrolling or not. Still, it makes us feel good that we’re helping protect them.”

She is fascinated. “They come crawling out of the water, and they’re massive. They lay their nests, and go back in the water, and then they don’t even come back to the nest. But then, about two months later, the hatchlings will come running out. And they know exactly where to go. That’s all just kind of fascinating to me.”

She admits she is obsessed with them: “Most of us who are in the turtle patrol are obsessed. My husband will tell you, I am obsessed with them, but that’s only during turtle season. After that I need a break.”

Her husband is not so taken with the turtles. She said he prefers golf. Nevertheless, he is always looking out for her, especially when it is stormy. She said he will drive her to her zone on the beach, then stay in the car providing easy cover in case of lightning. Love in action! 

They just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They have two grown children. Their daughter Kendal lives in Kansas with her boyfriend and his daughters where she runs a horse farm. Their son, Kevin, is in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a doctor of Physical Therapy at the Mayo Clinic there. He just got married a little over a month ago. 

Before moving to South Gulf Cove, the family would vacation in the summers for short stints in Boca Grande. 

“We used to rent, like at the Boca Grande Club. That was one of our favorite places. But we were at other places, too, over the years: Sea Oats, Dunes of Boca. We would rent a condo or townhouse for a week or two.”

Because they came so frequently, they know Boca Grande well. 

“It’s just so peaceful, and quiet. And everybody I’ve met here is just so nice. I like the beaches. You can walk a little bit and be away from everybody, or go to the beach down by the State Park and be around a lot of people.”

She went on: “I run with a group of women and we run there every once in a while. Many weekends we ride our bikes on the island. We take everybody there. We call it ‘our island.’ I think everybody probably does. Years ago, when we started coming down, there was no one here in July. It was empty. We’d have almost the whole beach at the Boca Grande Club to ourselves most of the day. But now, I get done with turtle patrol, sometimes it’s 8 a.m. and there are people already coming and setting up their chairs and umbrellas.” She laments: “It’s been discovered, but it’s still my happy place.” 

When Arlene is not patrolling the beach, she and her husband play pickleball. She belongs to the Women Warriors of Port Charlotte, which she characterized as “strong women who want to bond, learn more about health and fitness, support each other and have fun while doing it!” They go on field trips, run and bike together, kayak together and do charity work. She is proud and grateful that the group adopted 10 turtle nests during the BGSTA’s Adopt A Nest fundraising program.

Arlene also runs in a group called the “Running Chicks.” She said she ran in the Boston Marathon two years ago, and the Chicks were a big part of her being able to finish that challenge. 

Both Arlene and Keith retired during 2019. It was good timing for Arlene because doing crime lab work remotely was not a challenge she wanted to take on. Keith, on the other hand, had been working remotely for a good deal of his career, so it was not a difficult transition for him. What was difficult for both of them was to be two managers quarantined together, with no one to manage. The solution to this problem was to build their house in South Gulf Cove. It was a good diversion for both of them.

Another diversion was finding their new companion, Freddy, a four-legged bundle of enthusiasm. Arlene said he has calmed down from when they first rescued him, but he still has plenty of energy to run with Arlene and to be good company for both her and Keith.

Wrapping up our discussion, Arlene circled back to the turtle patrol. She noted that every patrol volunteer lives off the island. As a result, one of their major fundraising needs is to purchase bridge toll passes for the volunteers. They also provide the volunteers with high visibility shirts for safety reasons. Then there are the stakes, screening and other tools they need for the protection of the mother turtles and the hatchlings. 

More volunteers are always needed, but she understands there are challenges for many people. It is a physical job, calling for walking two or more miles on the beach at least a couple of times a week, starting from about 6 a.m., from May through October. The volunteers do this walking in all kinds of weather and while carrying equipment that can get pretty heavy. 

“We have about 20 people on the permit,” she said. “We all have to be trained and have our names on that permit from FWC to do anything with turtles. We have room for 24, but it’s really hard to find volunteers who will commit to all of this.”

“The part I really think is fun is when people who are on the beach come up and ask questions,” she said. “They are so interested, especially the little kids.”

Anyone who happens to be out on the beach in the morning this summer should look out for the turtle patrol volunteers, especially Arlene.Give them a shout and a “thumb’s up” to show your appreciation of their dedication and sacrifices.

It’s a small thing, but means a lot to these hard workers.

The weekly turtle report is here; follow the group online at bocagrandeseaturtles.org.