Meet and Greet with Captain Ron the Sea Turtle Egg Detector Dog

Earth Day Celebration at The Seas at Epcot

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During Earth Day weekend 2016, The Seas at Epcot featured special appearances by Captain Ron, a 3-year old pocket beagle, and his trainer Pepe Peruyero. Captain Ron and Pepe are part of Disney’s Conservation Team responsible for protecting sea turtles and spreading the word about their conservation.

Captain Ron has been specially trained to find eggs in fresh sea turtle nests. With his super-sensitive nose, he can sniff out the thin layer of clear mucus left on eggs before they are buried on the beach. This detection skill helps find eggs so nests can be marked in order to keep them undisturbed. Sea turtle nests are vulnerable to many threats on the beach, and if they aren’t detected, they can’t be protected from predators and disturbance from humans. Luckily, Captain Ron is great at his job!

For Earth Day weekend, Ron, Pepe and other members of Disney’s Conservation team have short presentations to educates guests on how to help and how to protect sea turtle eggs and hatchlings, all while showing off Captain Ron’s skills and adorableness!

After the presentation, guests could meet Captain Ron and take photos with him. There was even a PhotoPass photographer on hand! Captain Ron was is full of energy and warmly greeted everyone he met. He was not shy about giving LOTS of puppy kisses to everyone including us!
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This special event was not only a great way to celebrate Earth Day, but it was fun, educational and something different. It’s not every day that you can have a meet and greet with a specially trained dog at the parks! As locals, we love being able to attend so many the little extras that Walt Disney World offers on holidays and other special days like this.

We hope to see Captain Ron again soon, perhaps at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort where he does his great work!