In April 2008, I built this temporary exhibit in an empty classroom at the Mayumba high school. The Mayumba Sea Turtle Expo gave over 700 underprivileged students from the world's number one leatherback turtle nesting beach a chance to experience a face-to-face encounter with one of the sea's gentle giants.

After building a life-sized leatherback turtle model using plywood, chicken wire, and papier maché, we created a coastal environment by building a sandbox "nesting beach" display table, a cutaway egg chamber, and sea blue display panels using hand-cut saplings for frames and posts. Everything in the exhibit was built to be easily disassembled, transported, and stored for later use.

We then draped trawl net a park ranger had found on the beach and suspended crêpe paper "algae", marine animal puppets and costumes from the ceiling and walls to create an underwater environment. We played recorded underwater sounds to complete the immersion experience. Visitors had a chance to "swim" through a tunnel of trawl net and dodge silver cardboard fishing hooks to simulate what it's like being a marine turtle. We also created displays about threats like pollution, nest-raiding, and logs that wash up on the beach and impede nesting crawls. Other displays highlighted marine turtles' role in tradition and legend, worldwide conservation efforts, and local children's sea turtle artwork.

Visiting classes formed three groups and rotated through the three Expo activities- one group of students was led through the exhibit by a docent, while a second group watched films about international sea turtle conservation in the "cinema" we built behind the exhibit panels, and a third group went into the adjoining classroom to complete a coloring worksheet and crossword puzzle about Gabon's sea turtles. As many as 70 students visited at a time, and all were actively engaged in learning about sea turtle conservation for a two-hour session. Local teachers collected the worksheets and used them as a test grade for Life Sciences.