SEA-son’s Greetings from the GSTC Gift Shop!  For those who don’t know, we have recently re-designed our Gift Shop!  There’s more space, new items and an overall more pleasing, visual and practical appeal!  Take a look at the photos below, and if you haven’t been by recently…what are you waiting for?!

We also have some other very exciting things currently going on in the Gift Shop including:

So come on by today and pick up your holiday gifts all in one place!

Happy Holidays!

Stefanie Ouellette

Marine Field Programs Coordinator

Sea Turtles and You:

Getting Involved in Sea Turtle Conservation

at the

Georgia Sea Turtle Center!

Have you always wanted to learn about Georgia’s sea turtles? Are you looking for something to do that is fun and exciting? Then meet Georgia Sea Turtle Center educator and volunteer coordinator, Sarah Eckert, to learn about ways you can become involved with the ongoing conservation efforts at the center on Jekyll Island. She will talk about volunteer and educational opportunities at the center on:

Monday, December 15, 2008 7:00 p.m.

At the

Brunswick-Glynn County Library

208 Gloucester Street Brunswick, GA 31520

On December 3^rd and 4^th 2008 two of the Geogria Sea Turtle Center’s pint sized loggerhead sea turtles were released into the Atlantic Ocean.   Ace and Jewel were loggerhead hatchlings that came to the center this past summer.  Ace is known as a “straggler hatchling”. Meaning that for some reason or another he was unable to make it out of his nest. He was found when researchers on Jekyll performed a nest excavation, where they dig up the nest to take an egg inventory.  Jewel was brought to the GSTC from Florida and is referred to as a “washback”.  During the months of July-October when loggerhead sea turtle nests hatch, often the weaker hatchlings don’t make it out into the Gulf Stream.  Sometimes, being in this fragile state of health and even bad weather can be accountable for seeing increased numbers of hatchlings that are washed back on shore.

 Ace and Jewel were both taken care of by the staff and volunteers at the GSTC, until this past week, when they headed back to the open ocean.   When sea turtles leave their nests they make a mad dash for the ocean. Their food stores give them just enough energy to make it to the Sargasso Sea (the middle of the Atlantic Ocean), where they will then ride the currents for up to 10 years.  They float in Sargassum weed, which is packed full of larval fish and small crabs for hatchlings to eat. By this time of the year, all of the hatchlings would be well on their way to that sea catching rides in the Gulf Stream.  Unfortunately, for Ace and Jewel, they were a long way from the Gulf Stream and cooler near shore temperatures were preventing them from being released.  In order to have a better chance of survival, they needed some assistance making it to the Gulf Stream…

Help came in the form of a 92 foot Research Vessel from the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, in Savannah, Georgia.  For the second year in a row, Captain Raymond Sweatte and his crew of the R/V Savannah came to the sea turtles’ rescue.  Sweatte and crew, along with scientists from SKIO offered to take Ace and Jewel and chaperones Amy Hupp and Max Maurer for a two day adventure to get the turtles into the warmer waters they should naturally be in at this time of the year.

Ace, the stronger of the two, took off running at the first stop, the R2 navy tower. Here the scientists onboard were gathering data on substrate biota, plankton levels, and core sampling with the ultimate goal of determining what critters are present in the water column at various depths during the night versus day.  Jewel was a bit more apprehensive and didn’t have the courage to swim off into the big blue.  She was scooped up and taken further southwest the following day to the R8 tower and released in warmer water.  At both of the release sights, other larger loggerhead sea turtles were spotted which gives hope that they will find their new home suitable for a long and happy life.

The entire staff and volunteers of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center along with Ace and Jewel would like to extend a special thanks to, Captain Raymond Sweatte, his fantastic crew and the Scientists of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography for their continued support.  The R/V Savannah is used by scientists of SKIO and elsewhere to conduct Oceanographic research in the coastal waters of the southeastern US.

Best Wishes,

Amy Hupp

Rehabilitation Technician I

The Jekyll Island Christmas Tree Lighting Festival took place on November 29, 2008 in the beautiful historic district. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center had the privilege of participating in this magnificent event. Members of the GSTC staff took the stage around 6:00 p.m. to present “Scute’s Christmas Adventure!” Scute is the GSTC mascot and has been brought to life by the education staff in “Scute’s Ocean Adventure.” Several members of the education staff helped to write a Christmas version of this production for this special holiday season. It was presented to the hundreds of individuals at the festival with many excited children sitting in the front row.

"Scute's Christmas Adventure" characters Stan and Sylvie the sharks, Scute the loggerhead sea turtle, and Sarah Eckert as the narrator.

The GSTC also had an educational booth at the festival with specimens for the public to view as well as a chance for everyone to make their very own sea turtle Christmas ornament! Staff and volunteers shared sea turtle conservation knowledge with many curious onlookers.

Volunteer Lorraine Boyett talks with visitors about the plight of the sea turtle.

If you are interested in seeing “Scutes Christmas Adventure,” swing by the center any Saturday during the month of December at 1:30 p.m. After the puppet show, you can even color your very own sea turtle Christmas tree ornament!

And don’t forget, Santa will be visiting the Georgia Sea Turtle Center December 20th from 12:00-3:00 p.m. Bring the family for fun with Santa plus a very special Georgia Sea Turtle Center story! SEA you there!!

~ Teddy Ivey, Education Intern

Charlotte, a juvenile green sea turtle, arrived January 17, 2008. She was found stranded on Cumberland Island, GA, located just south of Jekyll Island. When Charlotte was first brought to GSTC, an unusually heavy load of barnacles (Chelonibia testudinaria) covered both her carapace and plastron.

After removing the barnacles, the carapace showed evidence of an old boat propeller strike. Twenty percent of sea turtle strandings in Georgia are caused by boat strike injuries. The barnacles had actually been growing into the wound, preventing it from being fully healed! Upon placing her into a hospital tank, her tail end was observed to be floating above the surface of the water. A CT scan and MRI showed that there is actually a vertebral bone fracture or break compressing her spine and causing partial paralysis of her hind flippers and affecting the neurological function of her gastrointestinal tract. This dysfunction causes her not to have the normal movement of her gastrointestinal tract and to accumulate gas which causes her to float with her rear end up. While at the GSTC, Charlotte was placed on a diet because she loves to eat. While at the GSTC Charlotte received an all vegetarian diet supplemented with vitamins and calcium.

Charlotte was deemed “non-releasable” and we needed to find Charlotte a good home. Jim Gamlin, from Save A Turtle, agreed to help us find an aquarium in need of a sea turtle. Mystic Aquarium was looking for a sea turtle, but not just any sea turtle, they wanted a rehabilitated turtle that was non releasable and contacted Jim. Charlotte was a perfect fit. Her story will help other sea turtles by educating the public about human impact on sea turtles. Charlotte still has a chance to recover enough for release but this could take years. Thankfully, Mystic agreed to release Charlotte if she ever regains use of her flippers in the future.

After some careful consideration and a few long distance conference calls, the staff of both facilities decided that transferring Charlotte as part of a long term effort to spread the word about the plight of the sea turtle was the best option, and Charlotte’s migration began to take shape. The staff of the center started looking for a pilot that was willing to donate a flight for Charlotte to Connecticut and benefactor members Jane Beadles and John Dunham answered the call! Jane, a long time animal lover, and John a former air force pilot generously donated their plane and the flight and agreed to take staff members along! With that detail taken care of Charlotte was ready to go!

In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 23rd, Dr. Norton, Michelle Kaylor and Jeannie Miller, met Jane and John at the St. Simons airport and loaded her up for the flight to CT.

A quick three and a half hours later the transport crew touched down in Groton, CT and were met by Don Harrington and the Mystic Aquarium staff. Excitement was in the air as she was transferred to the Mystic Aquarium van and driven to the aquarium where she was weighed, given a quick physical and placed in her new home, the 38,000 gallon Stingray Bay exhibit. She took to her new home very quickly, swimming around and diving the whole way to the bottom of the tank!

The next stop was downstairs to see the exhibit the same way the aquarium guests would see it, and in the five minutes it took us to get there guests were already lining the sides of the tank asking questions about Charlotte and children were running through the gallery to see her. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for Charlotte’s impact to be felt.

Before we knew it, the time had come to eat a quick lunch and see the rest of the aquarium. It was particularly difficult to pull ourselves away from the tank and after lunch we made a special request to say one last goodbye. Standing at the tank before returning to the airport was a bittersweet moment because as hard as it was to say goodbye we knew that it was the best thing for not just Charlotte, but also for sea turtles and their plight as a whole.

We all miss Charlotte now that she has left the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for her new home at the Mystic Aquarium, but are excited about a new collaboration and all of the people that are going to be touched by Charlotte’s story.

We love you Charlotte!

~ GSTC Staff