This has been a tough week in some ways and a good one in others. The lowlights were the two dead turtles that washed ashore yesterday. One was debilitated and had apparently died of malnutrition from intestinal blockage and the other was an obvious victim of a boating injury (you do not want to see photos of these turtles).

The highlight this week was getting the first of our 6 filtration systems sufficiently plumbed to begin functioning tonight. Though our hospital area has yet to be completed, we at least have clean, filtered water ready for any injured or ill turtles that are found alive!

While the tanks were filling, I managed to get over to speak at the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia (EEA) meeting during their evening dinner/social. They’re a large group of passionate educators from all walks of life having their meeting here on Jekyll Island this weekend.

This will be a busy weekend patrolling the beach as a Nor’easter is blowing through and we’ll need to keep a diligent watch on our shores for stranded animals.

Next week maybe we’ll start introducing you to some of our staff.

Happy trails,
Bill

Dr. Bill Irwin, Director

Today was a GREAT day at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center! Four of our 8-foot tanks and four sumps (for the filtration systems) arrived! We should be able to get these four plumbed and running by the end of the week. Two more 8’ tanks, a 10’ tank, a 6’ tank and a 15’x10’ rectangular tank will arrive next week. Yes, we will be ready for turtles in April!!

This was an exciting week! There’s a lot going on at the GSTC as we prepare the rehab area to receive our first patients. Our filtration systems have arrived and we worked with our colleagues from Aquatic Eco-Systems to begin installing them (Photo 1). The 9 huge tanks should arrive early next week and everything should be completed and ready to test by Friday.

Renovations of the powerplant are also nearing completion for the educational exhibit area (Photo 2). In the photo you can see the huge 8′ x 4′ window that will allow visitors to look into the treatment, laboratory and surgical areas.

We had a great group of students from the University of Central Florida (UCF) here doing volunteer work on an “alternative spring break” (Photo3). They were fantastic and helped out many divisions of the Jekyll Island State Park Authority. Among other things, they helped the GSTC with beach clean-ups and preparing educational materials for our “Lights-Out” and fishing line recycling programs. They did a lot of work and I think they had a lot of fun too. Jekyll Island has the most beautiful beach in the world and I can’t imagine a better place to spend a week working and playing in the sun. I’ve invited them back for a private tour once we’re open (they deserve it!).

I spoke at the Country Coach rally that was at our Convention Center on Wednesday; they were a great group! It occurred to me that motor home travelers are just like sea turtles – they both migrate with the changing seasons and take everything they need with them!

We chose a new GSTC logo. If you missed it, we had a contest where anyone could submit artwork for our official logo. We had over 250 submissions and many of them were outstanding. It was hard to choose, but we finally picked one. When the winner has been contacted and all the paperwork is done I’ll post it on this BLOG.

I’m heading to our Bella Sera Jazz Festival. I hear there’s a great band playing at 6:30 and then a “jam session” afterward.

The highly anticipated, $3 million Georgia Sea Turtle Center is set to open in the Spring of 2007. The facility will occupy the 1903 Power Plant within the National Historic Landmark District of Jekyll Island. The renovated building and additional structures will house educational exhibits and state-of-the-art surgical, rehabilitation and research areas. Facilities will be in place for the treatment of ill and injured turtles beginning in April and public exhibits will be open on World Turtle Day, June 16.

The mission and goals of the GSTC are:

REHABILITATION of ill and injured sea turtles,

RESEARCH on the health of individual turtles, local and global sea turtle populations and other turtles, terrapins and tortoises, and

EDUCATION about the marine eco-system to empower individuals, business and government agencies to protect the coastal habitat.

Additionally, the GSTC will provide training and research opportunities for animal care professionals and scientists from around the world.

Check back weekly for updates on construction, events, educational programs and turtles as they rescued and brought to the GSTC for treatment.

-Bill Irwin, Ph.D., Director

For more information about the GSTC, please visit us on the web at: georgiaseaturtlecenter.org. To contribute to the GSTC, please contact the Jekyll Island Foundation at: jekyllislandfoundation.org.