The Georgia Sea Turtle Center would like to welcome one an all to the Jekyll Island Foundation’s (JIF) Sea Turtle Weekend, coming up this Friday, Saturday and Sunday! There are lots of things happening this weekend all around Jekyll and hope you’ll be around to enjoy some of them! Please contact the Jekyll Island Foundation at 912-635-4420 or visit http://www.jekyllislandfoundation.org/ for more information about these events.

What does this have to do with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center? Glad you asked! The Georgia Sea Turtle Center will have extra activities, including games and crafts, available at the Center from 1pm-4pm on Saturday, June 28. Not to mention, our Patient of the Year contest will conclude this weekend and the winner will be announced! Please see our Patient of the Year BLOG by Kelly O’Keefe for more information on this contest and come to the Center to purchase your $1 donation card and cast your vote for Patient of the Year!

JIF Sea Turtle Weekend registered participants can use your card to gain free admission to the GSTC and all the extra activities on Saturday 1-4pm! If you do not have a Sea Turtle Weekend card, that’s ok too! The event is free with paid admission! And it’s not all that bad…besides being inexpensive, all proceeds (admissions, gift shop purchases, adoptions, memberships, etc.) go to support the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, including it’s turtle patients, directly!

Also on Saturday…and you’re not going to want to miss this...we are going to release some of our sea turtle patients that have been successfully rehabilitated and are ready to rejoin the wild population! We have not gotten the final word on which turtles will be released, but we do know that it will be some (1-5) of our smaller, juvenile Kemp’s Ridley and Green sea turtles! Because these turtles are still pretty small (relative to adult-sized sea turtles), they will not be receiving satellite transmitters. The transmitters are almost bigger than they are in some cases! The release is set to take place at 1pm on Saturday, June 28 on the beach in front of the Convention Center on Jekyll and is open to the public for viewing! There will be a roped of area at the release site and space is on a first come, first serve basis. (Picture: from Nest Fest May 3, 2008: Tweety (Kemp’s Ridley)and Kermit (Green) were released)

We hope to see you at the GSTC and the turtle release this weekend!

Sincerely,

Stefanie Ouellette

Education and Field Coordinator

What’s going on with Bevelyn?

If you’ve been tracking Bevelyn through our website on seaturtle.org since her release in Nov 2007, you might have noticed that she stopped transmitting a signal on May 29, 2008. Please don’t be discouraged…all hope is not lost! While it is true we can no longer track her on her amazing journey(s) it is likely that one of two things happened: She was mating and the antenna got clipped (less likely) or she nested a couple of times and the transmitter battery died (more likely).

A wise and knowledgeable person explained it to me like this:

Let’s think of your cell phone and it’s battery for a minute. When you use the cell phone, it uses some of the battery’s energy, a little bit at a time, but only when you use the phone. Now think about when you have no signal bars, and the phone is searching and searching for a signal. It burns up the battery pretty quickly, right? Now how does that apply to Bev’s satellite transmitter? Read on and find out!

The transmitter is “on” all the time but only transmits when the salt water switch is open (i.e. she’s above the water). When that happens, the transmitter (more accurately called a Platform Transmitter Terminal or PTT) sends a burst transmission every 45 - 60 seconds. Keeping in mind that the PTT needs to be out of the water for almost a minute BEFORE it sends its first transmission, the chances of it transmitting are slim if the turtle is actively swimming and only coming up for short breaths. If, however, the turtle is actively foraging, (deep dives followed by several minutes at the surface)then there’s more of a chance of her being at the surface long enough for the PTT to transmit. Several dives like this with a transmission and we get a good location class (LC) “hit.” Still, the PTT is probably only sending a few to a dozen or so bursts per day.

Now imagine that she comes out to nest. From the time she’s in the surf to the time she re-enters the water, the PTT is sending bursts at least once per minute. Over a couple of hours the PTT will transmit 100-200 times and that will cook the battery pretty quickly. Think of each nesting event as taking 1-2 months of transmitter life off a PTT as compared to a non-nesting turtle.

There were two very weak transmissions on the night of 6/12 and early morning of 6/13 that suggest that in either of the scenarios above, she was out again and nesting long enough for
the two weak signals to get through when a satellite was directly overhead. But they’re low LCs so they’re not reliable enough to plot.

So on the bright side, and as appears from her tracking, Bevelyn has nested this season, probably multiple times, in Florida! We can be happy about that for sure!

Because we can no longer track her, Bevelyn has been removed from adoption eligibility. Thank you to all who adopted and supported her! Your donation enabled us to get a glimpse into her life after her release from her remarkable recovery at the GSTC! We have 3 other turtles still eligible for adoption(Option#1-Griffin; Option#2-Vida or Spitfire)…please check out our website for more information on these turtles! And now you can even purchase these adoptions on our online store!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Education and Field Coordinator

It’s been a busy season so far on Jekyll Island’s sea turte nesting beach! Currently we have:

We are just heading into peak season so we’re expecting to stay busy for another 4-5 weeks at least! Once we have an opportunity to process the data a bit further, we’ll be able to see how many of these girls are new to our beach (never been tagged before), how many are returning nesters (already have at least 1 tag), and how many nests each one has laid so far on Jekyll! So exciting!!!

Also, our nightly (and VERY popular) Turtle Walks are going FAB-U-LOUSLY!! As of June 18, we had conducted 32 walks so far, and on 11 of those, a turtle has been seen!! AMAZING! So if you haven’t been on a walk this year, now is the time to do so!

For more information about our Turtle Walks, please visit our website. You can make reservations by calling the Center at 912-635-4444. We still do not have dates available for Hatchling Walks. However, we will post them on our website and BLOG once we do!

Please remember that artificial lights are harmful to sea turtles-especially white lights- to both nesting mothers and hatchlings! They can deter the mothers from coming out of the water to nest, cause them to false crawl (crawl out of the water on to the beach but not lay any eggs), and disorient them (causing them to waste precious energy roaming the beach confused!). Hatchlings are also easily confused and distracted by lights leaving them exhausted, dehydrated and vulnerable to predators. Leave your flashlights and cameras at home, keep your distance (minimum of 25 feet), stay still and quiet and maybe you’ll get an experience of a lifetime!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Education and Field Coordinator

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for and the time has finally come to say ‘good-bye’..but in a good way! Dylan is very healthy, eating live prey with vigor, and truly an absolutely beautiful sea turtle. It is time for her to join the wild population! Please join us in celebrating this wonderous occasion!

As you may know Dylan, was a straggler sea turtle when she hatched from the egg and has been an ambassador for her species for the last 10 years, first on Jekyll Island at the Tidelands Nature Center, then the Georgia Aquarium and for the last year at the GSTC. The GSTC staff feels Dylan has been a great representative of sea turtle education and conservation and hopefully will continue to spread the word about the plight of the sea turtle and the marine ecosystem.

Please accept our sincere apology for the confusion and various changes in release dates over the past few weeks, but we wanted to be sure everyone involved in Dylan’s life in captivity was able to be a part of her release. We thank you for your continued support, patience and understanding. We are also very excited to tell you that Dylan’s release will be a special highlight on Good Morning America!

Here is the latest information:
Pre-release Info:
Dylan will be receiving her flipper tags, PIT tag and a satellite transmitter on June 29, approximately 3pm. If you are at the Center, you will be able to view this through our Treatment Room Window!

Release Info:
The release is now scheduled and being planned for June 30. She will be released on Jekyll Island at the beach in front of the Convention Center at approximately 11:00 am. There will be a roped off area for public viewing on a first come, first serve basis.

Good Morning America will be taping the release, which will be aired later in the week, bringing national coverage to Dylan, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and the plight of sea turtles everywhere!

Hope to see you at the release!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Education and Field Coordinator

Believe it or not, the GSTC celebrated its one year anniversary on Monday, June 16! For the last 365 days, we’ve been busy treating over 30 sea turtle patients for various illnesses and injuries, 9 of which have been successfully released. To honor our patients, the GSTC staff is asking YOU to cast your vote for the Patient of the Year! The turtle with the highest number of votes will be the ‘spokes turtle’ for the Center and will be featured on the GSTC website and publications. So how does it work? Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Come into the Center, visit with current
patients, read about past patients and choose the sea turtle who you think best represents the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s goal of rescue, rehabilitation and release. Cast your vote by purchasing a $1 donation card at the Gift Shop. The winner will be announced at Jekyll Island Family Weekend June 27-29th. So what are you waiting for? Choose a patient from below and vote!

Charlotte

Nikon

Kermit

Bevelyn

Grover

Golden Boy

Tweety

Griffin

Vida

Cruella de Vil

Georgia

Nicky

Dolly

Scuttle

Spitfire

Wil E. Coyote

Tinkerbell

~Kelly O’Keefe

Educator

The GSTC offers a variety of Internships; some seasonal, some ongoing. Our Interns are an important part of every day life at the GSTC and we couldn’t get by with out them! They assist us in too many ways to count! So we’d like to take this time to recoginze and introduce you to this term’s interns!

Group Photo

Education Interns: JoAnna Josey, Maura Larson, Melissa Rettig

Sea Turtle Patrol Interns:
Top:Ashley Wiser, Angela Gallardo, Emily Walker Bottom:Clint Collins, Amy Hupp, Simon Dilts

Husbandry Interns-Luke Williams and Max Maurer

On behalf of the GSTC Staff…….THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
(Education and Field Coordinator)

Looking for something to do with the kids this summer? Want an activity that is both fun and educational? The Georgia Sea turtle Center has just the thing. Every Saturday from June 21st to August 9th the GSTC is offering Arribada Adventures.

Arribada Adventures is a family program designed for turtle enthusiasts both young and old! These two hour programs will introduce you and your hatchlings to Georgia’s turtles! Become an expert Turtler through hands-on activities, games, crafts, and
outdoor exploration.

Just choose the program that best suit your interest and we will take it from there.

Choose from:

June 21 Totally Terrapins – Get to know the Diamondback Terrapin up close and personal through a live animal presentation. Learn about the threats they face and participate in a release!

June 28 So YOU want to be a Sea Turtle – Sea turtles spend the majority of their lives in the ocean! How do they do it? Learn about the 5 species of sea turtles that visit Georgia’s coast and learn what makes them unique.

July 5 Nifty Nesters – Sea turtles are egg-cellent nesters. Become a momma sea turtle and learn all about the nesting process by playing a fun and interactive game on the beach. You’ll also learn how they do it by building your own edible nest!

July 12 Cracking the Crawl – Become a sea turtle detective and learn how to identify tracks in the sand and who they belong to. Sea turtles are not alone out there on the beach. Explore the beach environment and discover other critters who call the dunes home.

July 19 Turtles on the Move – Where in the world do sea turtles go? They begin their lives on the beach and then spend the majority of their lives in the ocean. Sea turtle biologists use a variety of methods to follow sea turtles as they migrate through the ocean. Learn about the different tags we use and how you too can follow sea turtles online!

July 26 It’s Tough Being a Sea Turtle – Discover the not-so-glamorous part of being a sea turtle and the difficulties they face. Through interactive role play and games, participants will simulate how humans contribute to the pollution of the marine environment.

August 2 Lend ‘em a Flipper – Learn how YOU too can help our fine, flippered friends by participating in a beach sweep and creating recycled sea turtle art.

August 9 Giving Sea Turtles a Chance – Come learn what the Georgia Sea Turtle Center is doing to help sea turtles. Participate in a mock sea turtle rescue and learn how we rehabilitate a turtle!

Cost: $10/adult, $5/child*. Saturdays 9:00am -11:00am
*Please note that price does not include general admission to the GSTC.

Space is limited and reservations are required. For registration and location information, please call (912) 635-4444.

~JoAnna Josey, Education Intern