Paddle Battle Long Island raises funds to save sea turtles
From left, Sunny Poon, of Garden City, Nancy Brokaw, of Miller Place, David Faverio, of Smithtown, and Karen DeMaio, of Stony Brook, comprised Team Pupfish in Saturday's Paddle Battle Long Island. Credit: Joseph Sperber
A stiff headwind greeted kayakers and paddleboarders Saturday morning as they navigated east along the Peconic River in Riverhead.
On another day, most paddleboarders would have typically avoided the water when facing such a "gnarly headwind," said paddleboarder Karen DeMaio, of Stony Brook. But this morning, approximately 100 participants in the Paddle Battle Long Island event set their sights on the larger goal of raising funds to support sea turtle rescues as they powered through the challenging conditions.
"Every paddleboarder out there is already muscling through more than they bargained for," said DeMaio, 52, whose team, sponsored by Hauppauge-based Pupfish Sustainability Solutions, finished first in the team challenge.
Proceeds from the event benefit Riverhead's New York Marine Rescue Center, the only facility in the state permitted to rehabilitate sea turtles and other marine mammals, according to the nonprofit.
Bryan DeLuca, executive director of the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, manned the microphone at the starting line to signal the start of each race and announce winners. He said the event is in its 13th year and typically raises about $20,000.
"It's an important race, an important event for [the rescue center]," he said.
He said the nonprofit rescued 100 sea turtles last year and it responds to incidents across Long Island and farther north wherever rescues are needed.
New York has four species of sea turtles and the top reason for strandings in New York is cold stunning, according to the rescue center. Cold stunning occurs when sea turtles exposed to cold temperatures become weak and inactive and typically end up washing ashore, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The rescue center operates a 24-hour hotline where people can report a stranding at 631-369-9829.
DeLuca said the work the rescue center does in rescuing sea turtles is "critical for our marine environment."
Community racers
Jameson Roeber, 15, of Port Jefferson, cruised to first place in the 5-mile Over 12'6" division on a stand-up paddleboard, completing the course in 59 minutes, 10 seconds. A competitive racer, Roeber first stepped aboard a stand-up paddleboard at 3 years old, he said. He competed in a kids' race at the Paddle Battle when he was 4.
"This has been my favorite race," he said.
His mother, Maureen Roeber, who used to compete in the race when her son was younger, said they love to support the sea turtles and have a found a community on the water.
"I met so many great friends here," she said.
Marshall Seddon, 56, who won the 5-mile unlimited kayak division in 49 minutes, 31 seconds, said it was a "lovely day" on the water.
"You worked harder going out and you sweated more, but had an easy ride coming back," he said after hauling his 21-foot surf ski back onto the boardwalk.
Seddon runs the River Connection, a canoe and kayak store in Hyde Park along the Hudson River. He said his business supports several conservation efforts. His wife spent time on the North Fork growing up so they found Saturday's race to be an ideal reason to return for a weekend visit.
He said he got to meet a lot of people at the start and he cheered on other racers if they seemed to be slowing down.
"If they got some motivation out of my third-grade sense of humor then OK, good," he joked.
Joe Werkmeister joined Newsday in 2022 and covers Suffolk County government and politics. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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