Ambassadors saving turtles at Nanaimo's Buttertubs Marsh

Aside from challenges in nature, there are also problems with people seeing the nesting painted turtles behaving oddly and mistakenly thinking the turtles need help.

"They pick her up and they put her back in the water," Brooymans explained. "She's trying to nest and she's continuously being picked up and put back in the water because this is a busy trail here."