Many of you are probably familiar with Griffin, an adult male loggerhead sea turtle who has been a patient here for the past 2 years (arrived on Nov. 16, 2007!). He has been a patient here longer than any other sea turtle and won the Patient of the Year award in 2008.

Griffin was originally stranded off Daytona Beach,FL and was taken to the Volusia County Marine Science Center. He was unable to dive and could not eat on his own. After several weeks, the staff at the Marine Science Center decided that they would like to transfer him here to see if ‘new eyes’ could help find the mystery problem. We received him, and after some initial x-rays, found that he had a lot of gas in his GI tract.  We also treated him for a bacterial infection. He finally began, and continues to, eat on his own but also continues to float and has difficulty diving.

Griffin was taken for multiple MRIs over the past 2 years in an effort to help determine the cause of his floating. The GSTC staff was unable to determine a specific cause from those results, however it appears that he suffered a vascular event, similar to a human stroke. For those of you who know about strokes in humans, often the person has to ‘re-learn’ everything from walking, to talking, to eating.  Well, this is the same situation Griffin appears to be in.

Griffin has been receiving physical therapy twice daily on his front flippers to assist in maintaining the muscle tone. The staff is also pushing him underwater when feeding to help encourage diving behavior.  However, none of these efforts seem to be improving Griffin’s condition.  If he can’t dive, hunt for food and eat on his own, he cannot be released into the wild.

The GSTC staff has made a few attempts to create a weight belt, much like SCUBA divers use, to assist in ‘re-training’ Griffin on how to dive.  There are many variables one needs to take into account when constructing a weight belt for a sea turtle, something that has never been done before so far as we know! It has to be well fitted, not constricting of flipper movement, or abrasive in any way to the turtle, etc.  Our attempts proved unsuccessful.  However, Dr. Norton was at a workshop and began a conversation with some engineers from Georgia Tech, Savannah Campus, who seemed very interested in Griffin’s situation and the challenge presented to them.

After a few months of work, the engineers finally had a creation to try out on Griffin…his first fitting!  So on Friday, November 13, 2009 they came to the GSTC and fitted Griffin with the weight belt they had designed.  Once secured on Griffin, he was placed back in his tank, with a few staff standing close by in the tank as well, to assist if/as need.  Unfortunately, all did not go as planned and Griffin had difficulty staying upright.  It appears the weight kept shifting and the neoprene straps we not secure enough once wet.

Don’t worry yet, this was only the first attempt!  The engineers removed Griffin’s custom weight belt and have a few ideas on how to modify it that may solve the problems we encountered on this first fitting.  So, stay tuned and we’ll update you as information becomes available!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Marine Field Programs Coordinator

On Wednesday, November 4^th, fourteen volunteers (eight Georgia Sea Turtle Center staff, four Jekyll Island Authority staff, and two residents of Jekyll Island) helped clean the salt marsh along the Jekyll Island Causeway. The cleanup effort was in collaboration with the Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful and Rivers Alive organizations. While working, we encountered (and braved) giant crickets, banana spiders, huge cacti, and thousands of sand spurs. However, our efforts were not in vain as twenty-two bags of trash, a plastic children’s swimming pool, a plastic storage container, and three large carpet squares were removed from the salt marsh. And all within just one hour! We were willing to participate in such an important task as it is vital that our environment be healthy and safe; not only for the animals that call the salt marsh home but for us and future generations as well!

~Melissa Q. Daniel, Education Member

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).

We are happy to announce that we recently had 2 very successful releases!  Both releases were conducted as a collaborative effort with other facilities involved in sea turtle conservation: Tybee Island Marine Science Center, Tybee Island, GA and the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA.

Tybee Island Release:

Snowball

Blizzard

Chilly Willy

Nikon

The Tybee Island Release took place on Saturday, April 25, 2009 following the Marine Science Center’s annual Turtle Trot (please see a previous BLOG about this event!).  GSTC staff accompanied the turtles on their journey to Tybee Island early that morning and all arrived safely.  At approximately 10am, 4 turtles: Snowball & Blizzard, both loggerhead sea turtles and Chilly Willy and Nikon, both green sea turtles, were released back into the wild!  Snowball & Blizzard had a satellite transmitters attached to their shells a few days prior to their release.  These transmitters are part of an ongoing research opportunity through the GSTC where we are gaining valuable information on sea turtle behavior, foraging grounds, mating/nesting grounds, and migratory pathways.  Click the turtle’s name to view their tracking page! SNOWBALL BLIZZARD

New England Aquarium Release:

On Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2 staff members from the New England Aquarium (NEAq) drove 10 rehabilitated sea turtles down to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, GA.  The group consisted of 2 loggerheads, 1 green and 7 Kemps ridley sea turtles.  All but one Kemp’s ridely, Route, were to be released.  Route will remain at the GSTC a while longer to recover from his/her injuries received from a boat collision. So stop on by and see him/her!  The other 9 sea turtles were joined by 2 juvenile green sea turtles from the GSTC,

Cruella de Vil

Cruella de Vil and Pilot Drew, for a release on Jekyll Island.  Some of you might remember that Cruella actually came to us from the NEAq in 2007 as one of the ‘Cold Stunned 7′.  All 11 sea turtles made it safely to the sea to continue their wild existence!

NEAq greens and kemps

We’d like to thank the Tybee Marine Science Center and the New England Aquarium for their time and efforts in sea turtle conservation and look forward to working with them in the future!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Marine Field Programs Coordinator