What began with two brothers noticing litter while hiking in Yellowstone National Park grew into a long-running wildlife-protection effort in Panama City.
Wesley and John Carl Tilghman, who call themselves the Conservation Brothers, focused their first project on fishing line discarded around St. Andrew’s Bay. The brothers, who fish in the bay near their home, had seen seagulls tangled in line and hooks and worked to free them.
At a local marina, they also assisted Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission workers with a 300-pound sea turtle that had been strangled by fishing line. John Carl removed the line while workers held the turtle, which was then returned to the Gulf, according to the brothers’ account shared with Woman’s World.
The brothers began building monofilament collection bins for marinas, adding instructions about disposing of used fishing line safely. They later organized beach cleanups with friends and classmates and collected water samples from the bay and its feeder creeks for state testing for harmful red algae.
After Hurricane Michael knocked down the trees around their backyard pond, Wesley and John Carl also turned their attention to wood ducks that had lost nesting sites. They built nesting boxes on poles and added protective collars intended to deter predators. John Carl said the pond later had 50 to 60 wood ducks at a time, with mother ducks leading broods of 10 to 12 ducklings.
Wesley is now a college senior. John Carl, 16, works summers on a charter fishing boat while continuing to organize cleanups, collect water samples and build additional collection bins and nesting boxes. He is also training a cousin to continue the Conservation Brothers’ work when he goes to college.
