For the last few months, I have been sending Scute, the ambassador of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, to my friends and family all over the world. From the University of Georgia to Uganda and from Maine to the mountains of Nepal, this little Loggerhead has be has been quite the world traveler! Follow Scute on his blog, Travels With Scute, as he continues to travel around the world learning and sharing his knowledge with others about turtles of all types!

-Melissa Quinn Daniel, AmeriCorps Education Member

Phil, a juvenile Kemp’s Ridley turtle, swam out to deep water Friday, August 27, 2010. It was found with a fishing line wound around its neck. After a rehabilitative stay at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Phil was ready to be released. AmeriCorps members who will finish their work on the end of the month celebrated its swimming away.

Phil’s Release video (click here)

Stone Gossard, drummer of Pearl Jam, wrote an article in the S.W.O.T. (State of the World’s Turtles) report. He claimed that rock stars are like conservationists. Both types of people truly become their jobs…partly because their jobs require such dedication and introspection…partly because of the charisma of the individual. It’s interesting to ponder the idea that conservationists are rocks stars and role models of their field. Their two-part commitment can transform these individuals into more harmonious people.

Like musicians, not all conservationists are mainstream, by which I mean recognized on a national or global level. Notice, I did not add appreciated for quality of work in that definition. I speculated that maybe that is why the Grammy Awards occur. How would conservationists react if an equivalent award were to be created for them? Hmm.

Here’s a concept: mainstream musicians and conservationists are charged with the challenge of maintaining a positive role model presence for their peers and for, theoretically, the world. For those rock stars within their field, I have created the Roll Model Award as a means of honoring individuals who fit the criteria.

The Roll Model Award (Roll Model Award Crafter’s Guide) serves as a reminder of the responsibility of a metaphorical rock star. A positive role model is aware of the way in which he or she influences the behaviors or even emotions of other individuals. A skilled rock star can choose to control certain behaviors – possibly reactions – of others. This is achieved through experience and a genuine notion of humanity.

What I find truly intriguing is that both rocks stars and conservationists can seem super-human…intangible, different from everyday life. The irony I have witnessed and experienced is that pure humanity (qualities or characteristics that are distinctly human, like compassion for others) makes the conservationist a metaphorical rock star and certainly a role model. A conservationist redefines the term environmental stewardship, just as rock n’ roll tangibly changed music.

Here, at The Georgia Sea Turtle Center, we strive to make a difference.

Will you be a positive part of history?

The way you define yourself within your job helps others define you by your job.

Honestly,

Amanda Noble

Education Member 2009-2010

Thank you for reading and pondering!

Now that the 2010 nesting season has come to an end on Jekyll Island, we would like to give everyone a quick recap of our busy summer. Georgia beaches have a total of 1,738 sea turtle nests so far this season! Jekyll has had 140 nests, leaving us just six nests shy of doubling the season total from 2009. Our first nest of the season was a leatherback nest and the other 139 were all loggerheads. It was a very productive year for us. We had an activity, be it a false crawl or a nesting female, just about every night. On one particular night we saw eight turtles and had six nests! It was our busiest night of the season.

Patrol Members "working up" a Nesting Female

We had many interesting encounters this season as well. There was one particular turtle who we encountered 14 times throughout the season! She must really like Jekyll Island. Another turtle who we saw quite a few times was affectionately named Stumpy, as she is missing almost all of her left rear flipper, leaving just a little stump. Poor Stumpy. On multiple occasions we spent over an hour with her helping her dig the left side of her chamber, and once we thought she was satisfied with it, she would leave! But our time with Stumpy paid off one night when we finally got to see her drop some eggs.

We had a few turtles who impressed us with their climbing skills by crawling up to the top of some very high dunes to nest. Some of those nests were even hard for us to climb up to! And another turtle surprised us by crawling right underneath Glory Dock and nesting on the other side. One turtle even decided to nest at 2:00 in the afternoon!

A Nesting Female Returns to the Water

With all of the nests this summer, we are now seeing lots of little hatchlings. It was exciting to see that this year, unlike last year, our leatherback nest hatched! When it was excavated we found two straggler hatchlings that we were able to watch, as they made their way down to the ocean and swam away. Now that we are nearing the end of the summer, it seems as though we are finding tiny turtle tracks on our beach just about every morning.

Hatchlings Heading Down the Beach

Overall, this was a very productive and exciting summer filled with nesting mother sea turtles, baby sea turtles, new friends, and a lot of fun. We have been very busy on the beach, working hard and learning a lot, and enjoying our time here at the GSTC. Before we all part ways at the end of the month, we wanted to say a quick thank you to all of our volunteers who gave so much of their time this summer to help us out on our patrols. Thank you! Be sure to check back on our blog for more updates at the end of hatchling season.

Sincerely,

The 2010 AmeriCorps Night Patrol Team

With the summer season in full swing, many visitors to Jekyll Island are enjoying activities like swimming, lounging and even fishing! Fishing on Jekyll Island has been a wonderful past time - so many guests have created memorable moments while fishing with family and friends. Being a responsible fisherman (or woman!) is an important part of participating in fishing activities.  Using appropriate hooks, respecting catch laws and leaving nothing behind are all great rules to follow. Mono-filament fishing line that is left behind can pose many dangers to marine animals- including sea turtles. Since the summer began, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center has received three patients that have either ingested or been entangled in fishing line. 

Fishing line ingested by three sea turtle patients

Mono-filament fishing line is not readily biodegradable. It takes about 600 years to degrade once it reaches the ocean. During that time marine birds, fish and turtles could become entangled in the line and cause any number of problems.  It has the potential to wrap around a sea turtle’s limbs causing deep wounds or lacerations. Birds beaks can become entangled leading to starvation. If any animal were to ingest the line it could cause gastrointestinal injuries that can often be fatal. 

To help keep beaches and piers for everyone, we would like to share a helpful hint: monofilament is recyclable. Glynn County offers many sites to recycled fishing line. Clam Creek Fishing Pier and five other sites are available on Jekyll Island, as well as the pier on St. Simons Island and Blythe Island. These collection bins are large, white, elbow- shaped PVC pipes where used line can be conveniently deposited.

Once the bin is full, the line is collected and is sent to the Berkley Conservation Institute to be made into items such as tackle boxes, fishing habitats, and other fishing-related materials. The Institute is apart of Pure Fishing, an Iowa based company. For fishermen outside of Glynn County Georgia you can mail your used fishing line to:

Pure Fishing

Recycling Collection Center

1900 18^th Street

Spirit Lake, Iowa 51360

We at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center hope that this information is helpful to you and your fishermen friends. The more fishing line is recycled, the less chance it has to pollute our oceans and harm our wildlife.

Renee Pascale

AmeriCorps Education Member

Edited by Kelly Price

To Those Wondering:

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center has seen some interesting patients in its three years of existence.  We’re constantly treating cases such as boat strikes, shark bites, cold stunning, gastrointestinal issues, vision impairment, debilitated turtle syndrome, ingestion or entanglement of marine debris, ingestion of or entanglement in fishing gear, as well as the various “mystery turtles” that demand out-of-the-box thinking and much research on the part of our staff.

As of June 29th, 2010, we have ten patients in the hospital who arrived floating.  Of course, each turtle is unique in some way: species, symptoms, and so on.  We have to use our observational skills along with the scientific method to determine what we can do to help every animal in our care.  Diagnosis begins with an overall exam, cleaning off of any epibionts (animals living on the turtle), a blood draw and analysis, and x-rays.  The vet and rehab staff will compile a list of all symptoms a patient has.  Then, they will begin to treat those symptoms.  They are also required to piece together a story for the education staff, who need to know what happened in order to inform guests.

Some cases are obvious: a boat strike looks like a clean slicing wound, or a series of parallel prop wounds (equidistance from one another).

Some cases are not so apparent: a turtle who is floating who has no air its body cavity or gas in its GI tract.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center’s current patients (as of June 28th, 2010) who arrived floating are Griffin, Al, Ghus, Bubbles, Erika, Carning, Caton, Ed, Frye, and Thalassia.  Yes, these ten sea turtles were stuck at the water’s surface, but that does not mean “floating” has one specific cause.  It’s really an observational diagnosis; there can be multiple maladies that lead to floating.

Here are some examples:

Griffin has suffered a brain injury similar to a human stroke.  He may not remember how to dive on a regular basis.  He regularly gets “dressed up for dinner” (technically breakfast) by wearing a neoprene suit on his carapace.  We weight the suit and draw his towards the bottom of his tank by use of food prompts.  He responds well to this physical therapy program.

Al was named for the algae on his shell and for his favorite food (algae).  Al was floating from gas build-up in his intestines.  We gave him Regulin and Cisapride, drugs for gut motility.  Honestly, working with turtles can be a real gas.

Ghus (short for “esophagus”) ate plenty of mono-filament (recyclable) fishing line that was partially passing through the gastrointestinal tract.  We removed the line during a day-long surgical procedure.  That has nothing to do with his or her floating condition.  It turns out that Ghus has a lung tear.

Bubbles had a fracture on the bottom shell (plastron) and was found because concerned citizens knew that a floating sea turtle is not healthy.

Erika has air trapped between tissue layers.  We’ve aspirated air from her body cavity many times, and the air keeps replacing itself!  We still do not understand why the air is trapped in such a way or why it continually comes back.  We are currently trying to determine possible infectious causes of her illness.

Carning had air trapped in its body cavity, around the vital organs.  We aspirated air, and that seemed to help.  Carning is now one of our more active turtles.

Caton. Oh, dear.  She’s an odd one.  She arrived with intestinal blockage (impaction) that was causing gas build-up in her gastrointestinal tract.  We gave her a drug called Cisapride, which was for gut motility.  In an extremely abbreviated story: she defecated and dove.  However, there is no short story in a hospital setting.  Caton is our first turtle to refuse release…twice!  We even removed her satellite tracking device.  So disappointing.  Maybe, she’ll “scute outta here” the next time we try to release her.

Ed is a female.  We performed laparoscopic surgery to find out why this juvenile green sea turtle was stuck at the water’s surface.  We found a hematoma (bruising between layers of tissue) causing the lung to curl, which may or may not have been why Ed was floating. Ed began diving on her own relatively soon after surgery.

Frye wears “goggles” and needs glasses.  Okay, “goggles” is a metaphor for the nictitating membrane that protects Frye’s eyes from salt sting.  The second statement refers to Frye’s vision impairment.  Frye spends the majority of his or her time at the top of the water, bobbing like a buoy.  We are trying to find a permanent captive home for our Soleil Moon Frye.

Thalassia eats where she lives and lives where she eats.  She was aptly named for her home and food: a type of sea grass.  Thalassia has what looks like old boat strike wounds that had healed in the wild.  The propeller injury may have interrupted the gastrointestinal tract, causing leafy blockage and gas build-up.  It also could be the reason Thalassia has trouble using her rear flippers to steer.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff have treated other floater patients with torn lungs.  If we calculate that in, then floating can be caused by a lung tear, a brain injury, gastrointestinal issues, or air trapped in the body for some other reason besides a lung tear.

Questions commonly asked of our Education staff include:

1. Do sea turtles eat something in the wild to remedy their gas? (Great question!  We ourselves do not know.  Sounds likes a great research topic.)
2. Is gas common? (We don’t know.  We see only a small percentage of the entire sea turtle population.)
3. Are stroke-like events due to age? (Probably not.)
4. How do they get air in their bodies? (Sometimes a blunt force trauma like the hull of a boat or getting struck by another turtle can jostle the innards enough to subsequently pull a muscle away from the lung.  Other times, we simply don’t have an immediate answer.)
5. WHY IS FLOATING BAD FOR SEA TURTLES? They can not dive for food, nor can they avoid predators.  Other potential issues include: greater risk of boat strikes, or marine debris entanglement.

If you happen to see a sea turtle floating in the ocean, call 1-800-2-SAVE-ME (if you live in Georgia).  To find other states’ sea turtle stranding networks, follow this link to the seaturtle.org stranding network locator.

Thank your for taking the time to read this BLOG and for doing your part to help these beautiful endangered species.

Honestly,

Amanda Noble

Education Member

Hey all,

My name is Mike and I am a new kid in turtle school!

Since graduating from Miami University with a degree in Zoology, I have started an eclectic collection of previous work experience. Last summer, I began to focus on a career in marine conservation.

This new career path has taken me from “Character Ambassadoring” with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to couch surfing through Washington, DC as I worked with Conservation International’s Sea Turtle Flagship Program. Most recently I have found myself on Jekyll Island and the fit is right. From sweet tea to sea turtles, I am excited for a fun-filled southern summer of learning and teaching guests to the GSTC about the 5 species of sea turtles that share our Georgia coast.

Check out this video PSA featuring Mr. Leatherback that I produced while Sea Turtle Interning at Conservation International reminding us all to use reusable bags when we shop:

Use Reusable Bags When You Shop!

Hope to see y’all at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center soon!

Mike D

Hey Everyone!

My name is Sarah and I’m also a new face here at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

I’m attending Sewanee: The University of the South and I’m majoring in Ecology and Biodiversity and minoring in Business. I started my sea turtle journey almost three years ago during the GSTC’s opening season.

This will be my third summer working at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and I couldn’t be more excited! As a North Carolina native, I am right at home here on the Georgia Coast and ready to see where this summer takes me. While this will be my third summer working with sea turtles my other jobs have really run the gamut. Last summer I worked at a law firm doing paralegal work and I sold pies at a farmer’s market in New York City. This past year I worked in my alma mater, Emma Willard School’s business office conducting market research and writing a business plan for our school store.

So far at the center, I have been having a blast as a counselor at our Sea Turtle Camp! Parents & students: I urge you to look into this amazing opportunity for next summer!

Can’t wait to see you soon!

Sarah

Top: Adult Male. Bottom: Adult Female

Terrapin Time:

This is the first installment of “Terrapin Time” a frequent update on how things are going on the causeway with the Terrapin nesting season, and anything interesting that might occur.

The season first kicked off with a wet and muddy start when a team from UGA and the Savannah River Ecology Lab comprised of 2 professors, 2 grad students, and a bunch of their friends/classmates came down April 29^th -May 1^st and joined forces with teams from the Center to seine three creeks for Terrapins.

The idea behind the seining was to be able to get a sense of terrapin abundance around the causeway, mark turtles for recapture data in the future, and put radio transmitters on 8 lucky adult females to track their movements during the nesting season.  All of this information will help us assess the current condition of our terrapin population and guide future management of these animals.

In the three days we managed to capture 130 Terrapins total, 10 recaptured from previous studies or this trip, 102 males, and 28 Females. 8 Females were outfitted with radio transmitters and will be tracked during the season.

Despite being cut up by oyster shells, rammed into by fish, shrimp, and who knows what, pinched by crabs, and often stuck in the deep marsh mud. Everyone had a great time.

Stay tuned for more installments of Terrapin Time.

Cheers
Simon Dilts
AmeriCorps DBT member

The turtle patrol team awoke at 6am on May 3^rd, to do their regularly scheduled dawn patrol of Jekyll’s beach. It was a beautiful day and we arrived at Driftwood at 7am. It felt like an ordinary Monday, but we soon found it was not so ordinary. We found a cold and lonely fawn whom needed a friend and a jacket. We quickly covered the cold fawn with a GSTC jacket and called JIA to help save the little fella from the clutches of cold weather.

We continued on our journey and headed south when suddenly a distant indentation in the sand caught our eyes. It was the first track of the season… and it belonged to a leatherback! We immediately stopped the vehicle to investigate. We followed the track beginning at the high tide line, went in a few circles, and eventually came to the nest near the Brice street beach access point. We were overcome with joy as we had found Georgia’s first nest of the season!

She had laid her nest in a poor location, along the rock wall, so it was necessary to relocate it in order to prevent it from being inundated and possibly washed out. We called our faithful leader, Ms. Stefanie Ouellette, and she immediately came down to assist. The patrol team relocated the nest to a more suitable location farther south to protect the (hopefully) soon-to-be hatchlings.

While that has been our only nest so far, we wish the nest a successful 70-90 day incubation period and are looking forward to the rest of the season.

Thanks for Reading,

The 2010 patrol team

Every year AmeriCorps member nationwide participate in a special week known as AmeriCorps week. During this time members do a service project that is “off the beaten path” from their daily routine and celebrate AmeriCorps and what it means to them. This year the 2009-2010 AmeriCorps GSTC team decided to “get things done” to help the people of Haiti and other countries struck by natural disasters for their service project. Members also wanted to show off their team spirit by creating a member wall in the exhibit gallery.

With these decisions made it was time to start the planning! The GSTC team found a great opportunity for service with nearly MAP International.

MAP International is a global nonprofit with the mission to promote the total health of people living in the world’s poorest communities by partnering to: provide essential medicine, promote community development and prevent and mitigate disease, disaster and other health areas. MAP International has its headquarters here in Brunswick and frequently accepts volunteers to assist in packaging medical boxes to be shipped throughout the world.

On the morning of May 5^th, the AmeriCorps GSTC team was joined by Rick Sooy, a AmeriCorps VISTA member serving in Camden County and started their service with MAP. After an orientation and tour of the warehouse the team set out to package oral rehydration packets that would later be included in the larger medical kits. The work went quickly and after what seemed like just a few laughs it was finished!

The AmeriCorps Week project was a great chance for members from all departments to spend some time together “outside of the bubble” and learn about new fun ways they can impact the world. At the end of the week members will be creating their member wall which will highlight the national diversity of the GSTC program. Stop by to check it out and join the GSTC team in thanking the members for their hard work!

~Jeannie Miller AmeriCorps Coordinator