The picture above gives a glimpse into our educational exhibit gallery where you can also view veterinary treatments through a window into the hospital. Interpretive volunteers in the gallery have an invaluable role: engaging visitors and enhancing their experience at the center.

Megan York, Volunteer Coordinator

This afternoon we had a mini terrapin hatchling baby boom! We had three hatchlings totally emerge and a fourth start to hatch. We got some great pictures of the action happening that I wanted to share with you. We now have 24 hatchlings in our terrapin nursery.

Today has been very exciting. I’m in the office late tonight, but I’m not here alone. I’m surrounded by some of our incredible volunteers, interns, and some folks from Savannah College of Art and Design that have been filming over the past few months. I can’t quite explain how excited I am to have such incredible support from the community. From helping in the muck of daily work, to bringing us food on late nights we couldn’t do it without them and I want to take a moment to say THANKS!

Jeannie Miller Aquarist

Since her arrival to the GSTC, Bevelyn has been undergoing daily physical therapy to treat her inability to open her jaw more than a limited amount. We have been trying out a new technique that consists of stacking wooden rulers in between the two jaw ropes. This method has also been used with humans who have had lockjaw. Most recently (8/14) we reached a measurement of 68mm, her widest yet! In other exciting news, Bev was fed live blue crabs today and was able to consume them on her own! She has made progress here at the center and we are hoping for the best.
Stay tuned for more updates!

-Allison Ebersole, intern

Bevelyn, Bev for short, is a loggerhead sea turtle that was found floating in St. Andrew’s Sound, Florida, located in the Gulf of Mexico, on July 21, 2006 of last year. She was lethargic, emaciated(thin) and had a heavy epibiota on her carapace and skin. Bev was transported to Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City Beach, FL and remained in their care until recently. On August 1, 2007 Bev was transported by our staff to the GSTC. She has been named “Bevelyn” in honor of Bevelyn Hardy, a well known sea turtle supporter and conservationist from the area, whom we lost to cancer earlier this year.

We are conducting physical therapy on Bev once a day, to increase the amount she can open her mouth. This is done with two pieces of garden hose that have bungee cords threaded through them. We place one on her bottom jaw and pull down the other on her top jaw and pull up. Bev gets two 5 minute sessions with a minute of rest and neck massage in between each session. Bev at first could only open her mouth approximately 38mm but with every session she has progressed to now being able to open her mouth to 66 mm! Further assessment of Bev is needed to determine the cause of the jaw problem and/or determine further treatment options. A CT scan, MRI, EMG and muscle biopsy are currently being discussed.

Bev, currently a thin 206.5 pounds, eats very well on her own, only having trouble with thicker pieces of fish. We offer her mackerel, herring, and squid. A typical loggerhead weighs 250-300 pounds she needs to add a few more before she is at a nice healthy weight.

Michelle Kaylor, Aquarist II

We’ve had a LONG day so I’m going to keep you in some suspense for now, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of our newest patient. Thanks to Jeannie, Stefanie and Alicia for making the 14 hour trip to bring her here!