The Sea Turtle Conservancy was founded in 1959 in Gainesville, Florida in response to calls from Dr. Archie Carr to bring awareness to threats facing sea turtles. Dr. Carr was a renowned taxonomist, biologist and conservationist. For over 60 years, the Conservancy has worked to raise awareness of and protect sea turtles around the world, making it the oldest sea turtle conservation organization. It provides information on sea turtle-friendly vacation spots and tracks sea turtle migrations online. Sea turtles have existed for over 100 million years and play an important role in the ocean ecosystem by eating sea grass and providing habitat for other species.