After many months of staff effort the Georgia Sea Turtle Center recently received a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service/Georgia Commission for Service and Volunteerism to become one of 13 AmeriCorps programs throughout the state of Georgia. The GSTC is one of only two new programs for the 2009-2010 year and currently the only program in Georgia with an environmental and education focus.

AmeriCorps is a federal national service program with a rich history.   In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service and brought the full range of domestic community service programs under the umbrella of one central organization. This legislation built on the first National Service Act signed by President H.W. Bush in 1990. It also formally launched AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs that engage Americans in intensive service to meet the nation’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. The newly created AmeriCorps incorporated two existing national service programs: the longstanding VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, created by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC).   

So what does this mean to the GSTC team?  It means that we were able to convert our former internship program to an AmeriCorps program enabling us to have more members for a longer period of time.  These extra helping flippers are much needed as the center continues to grow and expand its rehabilitation, research and education initiatives.

~ Jeannie Miller AmeriCorps Program Coordinator

If anyone has been through the exhibit gallery recently you may have noticed that the sea turtle hatchling “AJ” isn’t in his usual tank side home. Instead you’ll find “Amy.” AJ is a straggler hatchling that was found here on Jekyll Island during a nest excavation the summer of 2007. He was brought into the Center, nicknamed #11 and spent the next two years here helping the Center educate our guests about the plight of sea turtles. He quickly became a staff and fan favorite and in 2009 we decided to name him AJ in honor and memory of the son of the former Executive Director of the Jekyll Island Authority, Bill Donohue.

As all children and baby animals are going to do, AJ quickly outgrew his home here at the Center and it became time for us to release him back to the wild. Working once again with the RV Savannah out of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, staff took him to the Gulf Stream in the beginning of August. Once placed in the water AJ took off into the deep blue and didn’t look back! We all miss AJ, but please come say ‘hi’ to Amy , another juvenile loggerhead straggler hatchling that took his place in the gallery and is continuing to share the sea turtle story!

That’s right!  We are planning to release 3 turtles: Pumpkin, Night Watch and Skidaway on Sunday, September 20, 2009 during the last day of Jekyll Island’s Annual Shrimp and Grits Festival!

As most of you probably know, Pumpkin (LEFT), a sub-adult Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle, was supposed to be released on May 13, 2009 during our Annual Nest Fest event.   However, due to complications observed after the transmitter placement, we decided not to release Pumpkin, in his/her best interest.

Now that Pumpkin’s infections have cleared up and he/she has been taken off of antibiotics, has sunk to the bottom of her tank, and is eating normally, it’s time to let her go!  You’ll be able to track Pumpkin after his/her release on www.seaturtle.org (please be patient, it usually takes a few days for the tracking page to come up) and you’ll also be able to adopt Pumpkin as an Option #2 turtle through the GSTC’s Adopt-a-Sea Turtle Program! (*Option #2 adoptions help to offset additional costs attributed to the satellite transmitters after release. We have to pay for ‘satellite time’ and data management for as long as the turtle transmits a signal!)

Night Watch (RIGHT), a young sub-adult Loggerhead sea turtle, is also ready for release.  She was found by the Georgia Bulldog (a sea turtle research vessel) and brought to the Center for care.  He/she has responded very well to treatment and is ready for release!

Night Watch will not be getting a satellite transmitter due to her size and prominent dorsal ridge that is still evident on her carapace (shell). This ridge is normal for loggerhead sea turtles of this size class, and with time, will eventually smooth out.  This ridge would require us to place the transmitter off-center and could yield in inaccurate data, not to mention potentially making the turtle feel ‘off balance’. Night Watch will still receive a final exam, flipper tags and a PIT tag.

And last, but not least, Skidaway.  Skidaway is a small, juvenile Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtle.  This is the rarest and most critically endangered species of sea turtle in the world!  Skidaway has been with us since June 2009 from the Tybee Marine Science Center.  Skidaway will also not be receiving a satellite transmitter due mostly to her size…the transmitter is too big and weighs too much for such a small turtle!  She will receive a PIT tag.

Details:

When: Sunday, September 20, 2009

Time: 3:00 pm

Location: North side of the Convention Center on Jekyll Island, GA

This event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, space is first come, first serve!  So come on out and say good-bye and good luck with us to 3 wonderful patients!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Marine Field Programs Coordinator

*Please note that all releases are subject to change at any time (date, time, location, etc.) in the best interest of the turtle(s).

The GSTC Education Staff is always looking for new ways to engage our young sea turtle enthusiasts. Not long ago I came across the most incredible resource…a life-size, inflatable leatherback! Yes, a 9ft inflatable replica of the largest and deepest diving reptile on the planet! And thanks to an extremely generous grant from the M.K. Pentecost Ecology Fund, we were able to purchase one!  We have named our new, giant friend Cori, since Dermochelys coriacea is the scientific name of the leatherback sea turtle.  This grant also allowed us to purchase 3 Green, 3 Hawksbill and 3 Leatherback sea turtle skull replicas to strengthen our educational programs!

Our new teaching tools arrived just in time for the new school year. Schools are an excellent community resource for informing young citizens about their fragile environment and cultivating a sense of stewardship. Unfortunately, many schools lack adequate resources or curricula to support environmental education. It is for this reason that the GSTC created the Sea Turtle Education Project (STEP), a STEP in the right direction for sea turtle conservation.

STEP is designed as a three-part educational outreach effort based on Amazing Adaptations,™ Georgia’s Sea Turtles™, and Garbage in the Water™, a field-tested, standards-based environmental education curriculum exploring sea turtles and pollution prevention. Two school-based visitations and a field trip to the GSTC will be supplemented throughout the year by suggested readings and investigations, culminating in a class-designed research or community awareness project.

The primary audiences of the STEP program are third-graders and their teachers in public and private schools in Glynn County. Approximately 1000 students and 25 educators from 20 different schools will participate in the STEP program this academic year FOR FREE, thanks to a grant received by the Environmental Protection Agency!

It is with deepest gratitude that I thank both the M.K. Pentecost Ecology Fund and the Environmental Protection Agency for their sea-port! And the turtles thank you too!

~Alicia B. Marin, GSTC Education Coordinator