Leatherback Trust also recently embarked on an environmental education program at the local and national level. Two of the most successful public outreach programs cosponsored by The Leatherback Trust were The Great Sea Turtle Race and Cheer For The Turtles. The Great Sea Turtle Race used data from satellite tracked leatherback turtles leaving their nesting beaches at Playa Grande and heading to their feeding areas south of the Galapagos Islands. Using the tracking date a hypothetical race was staged between the turtles, with the winner being the turtle who reached the Galapagos Islands first. The race, co-sponsored by Conservation International, occurred on
USS Loggerhead (SS-374) these islands, the enemy shore batteries surprised her with hot fire. Evading the bursts of the Japanese shells through skillful maneuvers, "Loggerhead" escaped undamaged. She arrived at Fremantle on 19 July. The end of hostilities on 15 August found "Loggerhead" two days out of Fremantle heading for the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol. She put in Subic Bay on 22 August, departed for the United States 31 August via Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Francisco 22 September 1945. "Loggerhead" was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard 16 June 1946 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve