Tybee Island Marine Science Foundation Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
TO CULTIVATE RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP OF COASTAL GEORGIA'S NATURAL RESOURCES THROUGH EDUCATION, CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH.
- Income
- $1.2 million
- Spending
- $1.2 million
- Spent on programs
- 85%
- Reserves
- 5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 63%
- Employees
- 33
- Volunteers
- 137
- Highest pay
- $74,119, executive di
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 85 out of 100. Higher than 67% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 5.0 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 6% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 9% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1585% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 16 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 95 out of 100. Higher than 62% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2511 of 11 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $979,047 spent. EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR THE ISLAND'S VISITORS WE OFFER: HOUR-LONG WALKS, TALKS & TREKS: BEACH WALKS, TURTLE TALKS, AND MARSH TREKS. VISITORS EXPLORE OUR COASTAL GEORGIA GALLERIES-DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED BY SCIENCE CENTER STAFF MEMBERS, THE GALLERY IS 4,000 SQUARE FEET, BUT PACKED WITH INFORMATION ON COASTAL GEORGIA'S NATURAL RESOURCES. CART EXPLORATION PROGRAMS ARE SCHEDULED IN THE GALLERY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. OUR NINE WEEKS OF SEA CAMP: COASTAL KIDS OCEAN ADVENTURE - OFFERS SUMMER FUN FOR THE KIDS. FOR GROUPS WE OFFER: GIRL SCOUTS - PARTICIPATE IN THE COASTAL BADGE PROGRAM. CUB AND BOY SCOUTS - PARTICIPATE IN BARRIER ISLAND PATCH PROGRAM OR OCEANOGRAPHY MERIT BADGE PROGRAM. SCHOOL GROUPS, PRE-K THROUGH COLLEGE - PARTICIPATE IN OUR COASTAL CLASSROOM, SIDEWALK TO THE SEA, AND COASTAL SCIENTIST PROGRAMS. ADDITIONALLY, THROUGH OUR OCEAN OUTREACH PROGRAM WE EXTEND OUR EDUCATIONAL REACH AT PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EVENTS. CONSERVATION PROGRAMS OUR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS INCLUDE; THE TYBEE SEA TURTLE PROJECT, DIAMONDBACK TERRAPIN R&R, SHORE/SEABIRD RESCUE, AND WE PARTICIPATE IN THE NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL STRANDING NETWORK AND SEA TURTLE STRANDING AND SALVAGE NETWORK. CONSERVATION DIAMONDBACK TERRAPIN R&R (RESCUE & RELEASE) DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS TAKE A LONG TIME TO MATURE. THEY LIVE FOR 25-40 YEARS AND DON'T START NESTING UNTIL THEY'RE SEVEN TO EIGHT YEARS OLD. JUST PRIOR TO THE 1920S DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS WERE HUNTED TO THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION, BECAUSE IT WAS FASHIONABLE, IN AMERICAN, TO EAT A WINE-BASED TURTLE SOUP. FORTUNATELY FOR THE TERRAPINS, PROHIBITION HAPPENED AND THE WINE-BASED SOUP WENT OUT OF STYLE. IN ADDITION TO NATURAL PREDATION, THIS CENTURY POSES OTHER THREATS, THEIR HABITAT (THE BRACKISH WATERS OF THE MARSH) IS BEING DESTROYED, WHILE ATTEMPTING TO REACH HIGHER GROUND TO LAY THEIR EGGS THEY'RE RUN OVER BY CARS, THEY DROWN IN CRAB POTS, AND THEY'RE AGAIN BEING KILLED IN SOME STATES AND EXPORTED TO THE ASIAN MARKET FOR TURTLE SOUP. THE COMBINATION MULTIPLE THREATS AND LOW REPRODUCTIVE RATES HAS RESULTED IN THE TERRAPINS BEING PUT ON THE STATE OF GEORGIA'S DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTED SPECIES LIST. WE RESCUE, OR RECEIVE, SICK, INJURED; ADULT AND BABY TERRAPINS, PROVIDE TRIAGE OR TRANSPORT THEM TO THE GEORGIA SEA TURTLE CENTER, THEN TAG AND RELEASE THE BACK INTO THE MARSH. WHEN GRAVID FEMALES ARE KILLED BY CARS ON THE CAUSEWAY, WE EXTRACT THE EGGS AND TRANSPORT THEM TO GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY FOR INCUBATION. LASTLY, WE MAKE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC TEDS FOR CRAB TRAPS. REMOVAL OF LIVE ANIMALS ON THE BEACH CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND PASSED AN ORDINANCE (33-2011) IN 2011 PROHIBITING THE REMOVAL OF LIVE ANIMALS FROM THE BEACH. THE CENTER PROVIDES AN ANNUAL TRAINING TO THE TIPD AND OCEAN RESCUE THAT HELPS THEM UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LAW AND TEACHES THEM HOW TO IDENTIFY THE ANIMALS MOST OFTEN TAKEN (BY THE GROCERY BAG FULL) FROM THE BEACH. WE ARE PLANNING TO DESIGN AND PRODUCE SIGNAGE FOR POSTING AT THE CROSSOVERS. MARINE MAMMAL STRANDING NETWORK WE ARE A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL STRANDING NETWORK AND RESPONDS TO STRANDED MARINE MAMMALS, BOTH DEAD AND ALIVE, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DNR WHO HAS LISTED THE SCIENCE CENTER ON THEIR STANDING AGREEMENT WITH NOAA'S NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE. IN RESPONSE TO A DEAD ANIMAL WE RETRIEVED THE ANIMAL, AND EITHER SECURE IT FOR DNR TO PICK UP OR TAKE TISSUE AND TEETH SAMPLES ALONG WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA, WHICH IS SENT TO DNR. WE HAVEN'T YET HAD A LIVE STRANDING THAT NEEDED TO BE RETRIEVED. THUS FAR OUR ONLY LIVE STRANDING HAS BEEN A MANATEE STUCK IN A TIDE POOL, WHICH WE SIMPLY WAITED OUT WITH THE ANIMAL. SEA/SHOREBIRD RESCUE ISLAND VISITORS FREQUENTLY COME ACROSS SICK, INJURED, OR HATCHLING SEA- SHOREBIRDS AND EITHER CALL IN A REPORT OR BRING IT TO THE CENTER. WE TAKE- IN THE BIRD AND EITHER TRANSPORT IT TO A VET FOR PRO BONO TREATMENT OR WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR FOR REHABILITATION. WE DO NOT ADVERTISE THIS PROGRAM, BECAUSE WE COULDN'T HANDLE AN INCREASE IN REQUESTS. OUR PLAN IS TO CREATE AND TRAIN A VOLUNTEER GROUP TO SUPPORT THE WORK. TYBEE SEA TURTLE PROJECT THE TYBEE SEA TURTLE PROJECT IS A CONSERVATION PROGRAM OF THE TYBEE ISLAND MARINE SCIENCE CENTER AND MEMBER OF THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES' GEORGIA SEA TURTLE COOPERATIVE. PROJECT VOLUNTEERS PROTECT THE ISLAND'S NESTING SEA TURTLES AND THEIR HATCHLINGS BY MONITORING SEA TURTLE ACTIVITY. DURING THE NESTING SEASON, MAY 1ST TO OCTOBER 31ST. , VOLUNTEER COOPERATORS CONDUCT DAILY DAWN PATROLS (6 A.M.) ALONG THE BEACH. THE PATROL CONSISTS OF WALKING THE ENTIRE THREE MILES OF TYBEE'S BEACHES AND LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF SEA TURTLE ACTIVITY. EARLY IN THE SEASON PATROLS ARE LOOKING AT THE SAND FOR SEA TURTLE CRAWLS (TRACKS) THAT WOULD INDICATE THAT A SEA TURTLE MAY HAVE NESTED. (MALE LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES LEAVE THE LAND AS A HATCHLING AND NEVER RETURN.) SOMETIMES, A TURTLE WILL CRAWL UP THE BEACH AND NOT NEST, THIS IS KNOWN AS A FALSE CRAWL. WHEN A CRAWL IS LOCATED THE SEA TURTLE PROJECT COORDINATOR VERIFIES THE PRESENCE OF A NEST BY LOCATING THE EGGS IN THE NEST CAVITY. WHEN A VIABLE NEST IS CONFIRMED, IT IS ROPED OFF AND POSTED. THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF INCUBATION IS 60 DAYS AND SO OBSERVATION OF THE NESTS BECOMES A PART OF THE DAILY DAWN PATROL. AS A NEST'S HATCHING TIME APPROACHES, COOPERATORS ARE ASSIGNED TO "NEST SIT" DURING THE NIGHT UNTIL THAT NEST HAS HATCHED. WHEN A NEST HATCHES, THE HATCHLING NUMBER IS ESTIMATED BY THE NUMBER OF TRACKS FROM THE NEST TO THE OCEAN. FIVE DAYS AFTER THE HATCH, THE NESTS ARE EXCAVATED AND EGG SHELLS ARE COUNTED TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF EGGS LAID, AND OF THOSE LAID, HOW MANY ACTUALLY HATCHED. NESTING DATA IS REPORTED TO THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (GEORGIA DNR). LIGHTS OUT THE OBJECTIVE OF THE LIGHTS OUT PROGRAM IS TO FACILITATE SEA TURTLE NESTING ACTIVITY BY REDUCING ARTIFICIAL LIGHT SHINING ON THE BEACH DURING NESTING SEASON. OUR STRATEGY IS TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR BY RAISING AWARENESS.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since December 1995.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
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