G’day mates!  For those of you who don’t know, I was fortunate enough to be sent to the 29th Annual International Sea Turtle Symposium in Brisbane, Australia to represent the Georgia Sea Turtle Center…and that’s where I am now!  The internet is more readily available and working much better than last year in Loreto, Mexico so I will try to BLOG throughout the week and keep everyone updated on the happenings in ‘turtle world’.  I will be presenting a poster titled “The Georgia Sea Turtle Center, 1 Year Later”, which summarizes all the accomplishements the GSTC has had since opening in June 2007.  It represents all 3 departments: Education, Rehabilitation and Research as well as other on-going projects such as the Diamondback Terrapin Conser. Proj., SEANET, international work and conferences we’ve hosted.  I also brought a number of items to donate to the silent auction that are representative of the GSTC.  The silent and live auctions help to fund the next year’s symposium (2010=India) and student travel grants. 

Stay tuned for more from down under!

Stefanie
Marine Field Programs Coordinator

Come one, come all to purchase your GSTC gear and items at discount prices at the Jekyll Island Campground Flea Market and the GSTC sidewalk sale THIS SATURDAY (2/14)! (*Discounts only apply at these two locations)

We’ll have a wide variety of items, something fore everyone….puzzles beach towels, adult and children sized shirts, bags, jewelry and more!

ALL WILL BE MARKED DOWN!

Locations and times are as follows:

Campground: 9am – 1pm

In front of the GSTC (Sidewalk Sale): 12pm – 3pm

Didn’t find what you’re looking for?  We have more items inside our gift shop at the GSTC (*discounts may not apply)!  While you’re there, why not tour our facility (admission fee applies), see our patients and attend some of our education programs?!  You may even get lucky enough to see a treatment being done on one of our patients!

As always, thanks again for your support!

Sincerely,

Stefanie Ouellette

Marine Field Programs Coordinator

On Friday January 6^th, 2009 a few of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s education staff and volunteers participated in Oglethorpe Point Elementary School’s (OPES) ‘Georgia History Day’. We joined a number of other exhibitors to deliver fun and exciting programs for the students. The programs started off at 9:00 AM and each one lasted around 30 minutes. We educated nearly 200 students and teachers about the history of sea turtles.

We started off our program by explaining how long sea turtles have been around. How long, you ask? 250 MILLION YEARS! We are lucky enough to have a replica of a dinosaur sea turtle’s skeleton hanging in our gift shop. This dinosaur sea turtle was named Archelon and his skeleton was found in South Dakota! This may sound weird, but it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about where the oceans used to be.

We weren’t able to bring Archelon’s whole skeleton to Oglethorpe Point but we did bring a replica of his skull. The students were amazed at how large his skull was compared to theirs.

The loggerhead is the most common sea turtle that we get here in Georgia, so we also showed the students some of our specimens. We took skulls and shells from two different loggerhead sea turtles, including the skull and shell of a 500 pound loggerhead sea turtle!

Our wrap up activity was one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip. We used student volunteers to show the different lengths of Archelon, a leatherback sea turtle, and a loggerhead sea turtle. It took one student to make up a loggerhead, three to make up a leatherback, and 4 to make up an Archelon.

We were very excited to be invited back to Oglethorpe Point’s ‘Georgia History Day’ for the second year. We enjoyed all of the wonderful questions and unique personal stories. Thanks to everyone who made this day a success.

Can’t make it to Jekyll Island to visit the GSTC? Our Outreach Staff can come to you! For more information or to schedule an Outreach Program, please visit our website or call us at (912) 635-4076.

~Liz Jeyes
Education Intern

Check it out! The GSTC has been rated on TripAdvisor! CLICK HERE to go directly to our page where you’ll see our 4.5 rating (out of 5!), TripAdvisor Traveler Reviews, and photos taken by visitors just like you!

You can also access the page using the TripAdvisor badge on our website homepage: www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org

Thanks for all of your support!

Sincerely,

Betsy

General Manager

Become a fan of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center with our new facebook group. This will allow you to connect with other turtle supporters. We will post information about events and special programs going on at the center.