Nim's Island — Reel Life to Real Life

Welland Burnside
Like Nim, Welland Burnside could never stand by when a friend needed help. Similarly, this teenager is a good friend to both humans and animals! As a child,Welland was inspired to create not one, but two charities to help other kids. "Suitcases for Kids," which provides suitcases to foster kids, was born after Welland and his sister, Aubyn, learned that these kids often had to carry their belongings in garbage bags as they moved from one family to another. When he lost a friend to cancer, he founded "Animals for Alex" to provide young patients with stuffed animals.

It wasn’t long before Welland turned his attention from stuffed animals to real wildlife. A resident of Murrell’s Island, South Carolina, Welland learned that the oyster population along his state’s coast was declining because of overharvesting, destruction of habitat, water pollution and coastal development. This is a problem because oysters improve water quality, control erosion and provide habitat for other shellfish and fish species.

Through the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Welland started a local effort of SCORE (South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement) to restore oyster beds and check for water quality. For his efforts,Welland was awarded the Youth National Conservation Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation!

These days,Welland is a Youth Board Member of EarthForce and a Youth Advisor for Ranger Rick and Weekly Reader magazines. He has been honored by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush for his community service work.

Welland Burnside gets other people and groups to take action on behalf of the environment. He shows others that, like him, they too can change the world. Check out www.nwf.org to join people like Nim and Welland who are helping to restore wildlife habitats and protect the environment.

Cynthia Vanderlip
Cynthia Vanderlip is the State of Hawaii’s Wildlife Sanctuary Manager at Kure Atoll. Kure Atoll is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — a place almost as remote as Nim's Island.

Cynthia is an experienced researcher like Jack Rusoe. She has spent many years returning to Kure Atoll, counting and identifying individuals and observing the dolphins and Hawaiian monk seals found there. She has also counted the number of dolphins in a group living in Kure’s lagoon. This pod is made up of more than a hundred dolphins.

Another important part of Cynthia’s job is protecting and appreciating the unique underwater resources at Kure Atoll. Cynthia is Hawaii’s steward of this beautiful atoll. She spends long periods of time on the atoll without other people. But like Jack and Nim, Cynthia has the marine life and sea birds to keep her company and to let her know she is not alone.

Sanctuary Sam
Now you can have a sea lion for a best friend too! Sanctuary Sam is a California sea lion. Sam can be found hanging out at the water most of the time. He is four feet, seven inches tall and more than seven feet long from his nose to tail! Sanctuary Sam weighs 550 pounds. He does a lot of swimming and he eats herring, capelin, squid, sardines and mackerel.

Sanctuary Sam has an important job! Sam is the National Marine Sanctuary Program Spokes-sea lion. Sam wants kids to know that it is important to take care of the marine environment.

This page is excerpted from Walden Media’s Educator Poster for Nim's Island. Click here for a complete copy of the poster in PDF format.

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