From Dominica to a U.S. Forever Stamp

On a dark beach on the Caribbean island of Dominica in 2006, a marine biologist crouched in the sand and raised his camera. In front of him, a leatherback sea turtle hatchling — barely a few inches long — was making its first and most dangerous journey: from the nest to the sea. The photograph he made that night was a field image, taken in the course of conservation work. It was not made for a gallery, a magazine or a postal service. It was made because the moment was there, and because documenting it was part of the work.

Eighteen years later, on 11 June 2024, the United States Postal Service officially issued the Protect Sea Turtles Forever stamp pane in Corpus Christi, Texas. One of the six designs in the pane — the leatherback — carried Rowan Byrne's 2006 photograph. The USPS stamp announcement identifies him by name: 'Rowan Byrne, photographer.'

For a marine biologist and conservationist, having an image created in the field become part of a national postal issue is an unusual intersection of science, conservation, photography, public communication and history. This page tells that story — from the conservation project in Dominica to the post offices of the United States.

The Six Turtles

The Protect Sea Turtles pane features six designs, each based on an existing photograph of a different sea turtle species. USPS designed the issue to raise public awareness of the threats facing sea turtles. The leatherback design is credited to Rowan Byrne. The other five designs were photographed by other photographers.

According to USPS, the ancestors of marine turtles have existed for more than 100 million years. Modern threats include exploitation, habitat destruction, human activity and the impacts of climate change. All six species depicted in the pane are listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

When Science Becomes a Photograph

Rowan Byrne's dual role as marine biologist and photographer

The photograph of the leatherback hatchling is not simply a wildlife image. It is visual scientific communication — a record made in the field, during conservation work, by a marine biologist who was also a photographer.

Field photography serves multiple functions in marine biology and conservation: it documents species and behaviours, creates a visual record of research and fieldwork, communicates conservation issues to audiences who may never visit a nesting beach, and preserves moments that would otherwise exist only in field notes.

The fact that a field photograph made in this context was later selected for a national postal issue is a reminder that scientific and conservation photography can reach audiences far beyond the scientific community — and that the visual record of conservation work has a life beyond the project that created it.

Philatelic Details

For collectors and philatelic reference

The MarineCreatures Archive

MarineCreatures is the evolving archive of Rowan Byrne's marine biology, conservation, research, photography, expeditions, publications and field history. The leatherback photograph and the Dominica conservation work are part of that archive — connected to three decades of marine fieldwork across more than 22 countries.