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