Today was, as always, an incredibly fun day here at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. As a form of enrichment for Dylan and Bevelyn we decided to make them fishsicles! We took containers and filled them with water and some fishy snacks and then froze it overnight. This morning, we gave Dylan (on the left) his and he immediately began going after the ice trying to get the fish. As the ice melted he was able to pull the fish out and once they were all gone he finished off the ice with one powerful chomp.

A little while later, after Bev (on the right) had recieved her physical therapy for the day we gave her a fishsicle as well. Even though she couldn’t get her mouth open as wide she also immediately began trying to get the fish out. It took her a little longer but we were able to observe her opening her mouth much better than during a normal feeding, as the ice was floating on the top. As you can see from the pictures even though Bev has made great improvement she still has quite a way to go before she is opening her mouth the whole way.

Jeannie Miller Aquarist

Tomorrow, August 26, is Dylan’s Birthday! He’ll be 9 years old and we’d like YOU to come celebrate with us!!! We’ll have a table set up for you to make him a birthday card and we’ll sing to him at 2:30pm when he gets a birthday treat!!! Come one, come all, to DYLAN’S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!

~Stef and Alicia, GSTC Educators

With the advent of hatching season, the GSTC began it’s Hatchling Walk Program on July 25, 2007! These walks are conducted in the early morning hours on Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through mid-September. Volunteer Walk Guides take the Hatchling Walk Participants on a 30-minute beach ecology tour, focusing on sea turtle nesting and hatching habitat and behavior.

The Guide leads the group to an active sea turtle nest that has been hatching naturally for 5-7 days. The GSTC Staff Interns meet the Walk Group at the nest, then conduct a post-hatching excavation to take an inventory of the nest. Data sheets are provided to the Walk Participants so that they may assist the Interns in recording the data. The photo to the right shows Ruba, one of our many dedicated volunteers, showing the Walk Participants a straggler hatchling (in the bucket) and explaining why the hatchling may have been stuck in the nest.

Walk Participants get an up-close view of the excavation and the contents from inside the nest, as seen in the photo to the right. Here, Stefanie Ouellette (Education and Field Coordinator–GSTC) and Mark Dodd (Georgia’s Sea Turtle Program Coordinator–GADNR) are training the Interns on their first post-hatching excavation.

Occassionally a live, straggler hatchling is found inside the nest and released for the group!

We still have space on some of the Walks, so call today for your reservations!

Stefanie Ouellette, Education and Field Coordinator

Greetings from the GSTC Education Team! We apologize for not having a presence on the Blog sooner, and as you’re about to see, we’ve had a busy, fun-filled summer. We have successsfully completed our first season of Children’s Summer Programs, in association with our new facility! For the last 6 weeks, we hosted two separate summer programs; Hatchling Programs (Ages 2-4) and Turtle Time (Ages 5-12). We are proud to announce that these programs were attended by approximately 130 children!

The GSTC hosted the Hatchling Programs on Friday mornings from 9:30-11 am. Left is a picture taken during the “Hooray for Hatchlings” program. Children joined Public Outreach Educator, Alicia Marin, to learn all about baby sea turtles as they break out of their eggs, dig their way up through the sand and race to the sea. Each Hatchling Program involved an interactive hands-on activity, craft, and sometimes a yummy snack!

Saturday mornings, the GSTC staff had the opportunity to work with older children during the “Turtle Time” programs. These 2 hour programs focused on topics such as the “Amazing Adaptations” of sea turtles, how to “Crack the Crawl”, that “It’s Tough being a Sea Turtle, and that they too can help our fine, flippered friends. Picture right are students from the “Lend ‘em a Flipper” program, presenting their sea turtle creations made from recyled trash found during a beach cleanup.

We were extremely pleased with the success of these programs and look forward to hosting the first annual Sea Turtle Camp in 2008! Be sure to keep checking the Blog/Website for upcoming education programs this Fall/Winter. A special thanks to all those who participated in our programs this summer! The GSTC staff had a blast and we know you did too!!!

Alicia Marin, Public Outreach Educator