Mrs. O’Grady’s Kindergarten class at the Willis Avenue School in Mineola, NY, got a taste of the south last week-Turtle Tales from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center! Maura Larson, Education Intern, headed home for a week of rest and relaxation only to find herself doing what she does best-spreading her love of sea turtles through inspirational stories and crafts! Maura was invited by her mom, Geri Larson, a teacher’s aid in Mrs. O’Grady’s class, to read Do You Know Where Do Sea Turtles Go?, a story about Myrtle the Loggerhead Sea Turtle and her journey from egg to adulthood.

Sea turtles sure need a lot of things to help them in their journey! Sand to incubate the leathery eggs, a pack lunch of rich egg yolk for energy, lots of brothers and sisters to help eachother out of the nest, a compass to guide them to the sea and seaweed for camouflage and capturing yummy snacks were all part of the wearable Journey Pack that Maura so craftily designed. Seventeen hatchlings donned their Journey Packs, stretched their flippers and swam Mrs. O’Grady’s story carpet sea for one turtle-rific afternoon.

Want to experience the fun? Join us for Turtle Tales every Saturday at 10:30am for a sea turtle inspired story and craft. The program is free with general admission to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Sea you there!

~Maura Larson (Education Intern) and Kelly O’Keefe (Educator)

Irene and ‘Fortune’ deployed from Ft. Benning, Georgia and stopped in Shannon, Ireland en route to Kuwait. ‘Fortune’ later flew on a C-130 to Baghdad where Irene came under some close mortar fire while visiting Camp Victory. ‘Fortune’-ately, both escaped unscathed! Later, the pair traveled via C-17 to Bagran, Afghanistan. LTC Glaeser returned to the U.S. after her tour and came to visit the Center again on April 11, 2008. This ‘fortunate’ pair, along with family and friends, were brought safely back to the place where Irene first discovered an admiration for sea turtles and considers them a source of her good luck.

It’s been a busy spring, as the GSTC has been making preparations for the upcoming sea turtle nesting season on Jekyll Island. There have been orientations, meetings and training sessions for volunteers, staff and new interns; training manuals to create and/or update; and equipment checks, to name a few! On May 1, 2008 the GSTC staff began conducting daily dawn patrols to look for signs of nesting females, indicating the start of the 2008 sea turtle nesting season.

On Wednesday, May 6, the patrol found the first crawl of the season (left)! It was indeed a loggerhead crawl,as can be seen by the alternating flipper marks (below). The loggerhead sea turtle is the most common nesting sea turtle on Jekyll Island.

Unfortunately, the crawl did not lead to a nest. We call this type of crawl a ‘false crawl’. These types of crawls are not uncommon on a nesting beach.

The very next morning however, the patrol again came across a crawl, only this time it WAS a nest! We were VERY excited! We had hoped to be the first in Georgia to have a sea turtle nest, but learned that Blackbeard Island actually had a nest on May 5/6. The bottom line is that the nesting season in Georgia has begun, albeit much earlier than normal!

We will begin our all-night turtle patrols on May 15, so don’t be surprised to see us if you’re on the beach at night! And here are a few tips to help you to have a SEA TURTLE FRIENDLY summer:

* Shield all outdoor lighting and turn off when not needed. Change fixtures and/or bulbs to meet ‘turtle-friendly’ standards. Leave flashlights at home and avoid flash photography while on the beach at night. If you must use a flashlight, please use it sparingly and cover it with at least 2 layers of red cellophane (available for FREE at the GSTC!)

* Observe nesting females and hatchlings from a safe distance (>20ft). Never disturb turtle nests, markers, protection devices or eggs.

* Only use designated dune cross-overs and walk ways. Do not climb over the dunes or disturb the dune vegetation.

* Pick up litter. Recycle used fishing line.

* Remove furniture and umbrellas from the beach at night.

* Fill in holes and level sandcastles that can trap hatchlings.

* To report a sea turtle stranding or harassment of a sea turtle please call GADNR: 1-800-2-SAVE ME

If you are interested in learning more about the nesting process and maybe even have the opportunity to encounter a nesting female, check out our nightly Turtle Walks (June 1-July 31; 8:30pm and 9:30pm)! Please visit our website (http://www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org/) for more information about the walks and reservations!

Happy Turtling!
Stefanie Ouellette

Education and Field Coordinator

Whoever said you had to be a certain age to help sea turtles was proved wrong this week by a Miss Avery Barnett, 7. Avery was one of the wonderful hatchlings that came to visit the center from Berrien Primary’s second grade class on Monday, May 5th. While taking the class through the rehabilitation pavilion, Avery’s mother informed me that Avery had raised money to adopt a turtle. Not only did she raise money, but she did it all herself!

Avery has always loved animals especially sea turtles. She decided to help raise money to help our sick sea turtles here at the hospital and what better way to do that than to adopt one! She went to her school and the local high school and asked for donations to help sick sea turtles. Students and teachers donated enough so that she could adopt one of the turtles ($50!). Pretty impressive, right? Vida was the lucky sea turtle that day because she now has Avery as her adoptive parent!

As a non-profit facility we give our visitors the opportunity to personally help our patients by adopting them. Dylan, Vida, Griffin, Spitfire and Bevelyn are up for adoption and the money goes to the treatment and care of each patient. The program allows the adoptive parents to receive updates and pictures of their chosen patient and also two VIP seats to their release!

Thank you so much to Avery for showing us that hatchlings of all ages can help sick sea turtles too!

For more info on how you can adopt a turtle, go to www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org !

~Maura Larson, Education Intern

Couldn’t make it to Spitfire, Tweety and Kermit’s release last Saturday at Nest Fest? Or did you attend and enjoy it SO much you want to see another one? Well here’s your chance….We are currently preparing for Vida’s release!

If all goes well, Vida will be receiving her satellite transmitter on Friday, May 16th at the GSTC, with the plan of releasing her on Saturday, May 17 at 11:00am during the Wild Amelia Nature Festival on Amelia Island, Florida (www.wildamelia.com). Vida will be released on the beach at Main Beach Park which has a large, free parking lot.

Q: Where is Main Beach Park?
A: At the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and North Fletcher Avenue in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida.
Directions to Main Beach Park from Interstate 95:
Exit at SR-200/SR-A1A and continue east for 12.1 miles
Turn right on CR-108/Sadler Road and continue 1.3 miles
Turn left at S Fletcher Ave/SR-A1A and continue north 2.0 miles to the stop light at Atlantic Ave

*Please note that date, time and location is subject to change at any time.

Don’t forget to stop and check out Wild Amelia Nature Festival while you’re there for the release…the GSTC will be hosting a table, so drop by and say ‘hello’!

Stefanie Ouellette
Education and Field Coordinator