Simone-BEFORE

Simone-AFTER

After almost a year being under the watchful eye of the GSTC, Simone and Duffy were given the all clear by Dr. Terry Norton to return home to the great blue sea.

Both turtles have made a miraculous recovery from when they first came in, it was hard to believe they were the same turtles from when they first came in, to their release.

Duffy-BEFORE

Duffy-AFTER

I personally remember when Simone came in, as I was on patrol, walking the south end when all of a sudden around 4:00am we heard someone calling turtle patrol on the radio. I was one of the three that night and we all had a confused look on our faces when we responded to the radio transmission as who would be calling us. It turned out to be Jeannie Miller letting us know she just picked up a turtle found on Little St. Simon’s Island, GA and wanted one of to go check on her before the vet staff arrived later in the morning.

I was the one to head into the Center around 5:00am, and sitting in one of the blue dry-dock tubs at the Center was this turtle (Simone) completely covered in barnacles, not moving except a breath every now and then. In under a year’s time she made a complete turn around to being one of the most energetic turtles, very beautiful, and with a unique personality.

SIMONE

It was great to see her take a few crawls back facing the crowed as to say good-bye and thanks before making a grand entrance into the sea (she actually created a small wake).

DUFFY

Duffy’s story is also an amazing one. She was captured on the Georgia Bulldog close to the same time as Simone. She had a huge hole in her rear right flipper (RRF) that Dr. Terry Norton could put two hands in very deeply and you could see the severed femur. With a lot of TLC and an experimental treatment packing the wound with honey and honey comb, Duffy made a miraculous recovery. When placing the transmitter on her, Terry took one last look at her wounds, where you could barely put a few fingers into the RRF and maybe about knuckle deep. Duffy also had her own unique personality who was always fun to treat

We at the GSTC wish them the best of luck in their new adventures and will miss them, but we are glad they are home.

Thank you to all those who helped out with the release, and for all those that were able to make it out to watch the turtles return home.

Sincerely,
Simon Dilts
Sea Turtle Patrol Intern 2009