May is a juvenile green sea turtle that arrived on December 14, 2012 from Mayport, Florida.  May had sustained fractures to the carapace (top shell) and plastron (bottom shell). There was also a fishhook in his/her mouth. Upon arrival May was lethargic (weak), and could barely lift his/her head.

The fishhook was easily removed from May’s mouth without causing any further damage.  He/she was immediately started on antibiotics to help fight infection and given fluids.  Tramadol was prescribed for pain management within two days of his/her arrival.   At first, all of the fracture wounds on the plastron and the carapace were treated daily with medihoney (a sterile form of honey) and waterproof bandaging.  May couldn’t swim, so he/she was placed in a kiddie pool with very shallow water and foam padding covered with towels, which we call a ‘waterbed.’  A CT scan was performed and showed a fracture his/her first vertebrae.

May would not eat when he/ she first arrived and had to be tube fed regularly.  Because he/she wasn’t eating, we had to provide nutrition and medication through fluids, tube feeding, and injections.

We offered May seafood (shrimp, squid, mackerel and herring) and greens (cucumber, bell peppers, and lettuce) three times a day hoping he/she would show interest.  At first, he/she simply ignored the food offered or moved away from it.  Finally, May ate seafood and greens for the first time on January 25, 2013, more than a month after his/her arrival.  After that, May ate on his/her own regularly, and we were able to discontinue tube feeding.

Every morning, he/she would be placed into a kiddie pool with deeper water to test his/her ability to come up for air.  Someone would stay with May for a few hours to keep an eye on him/her during this process and help him/her come up for breaths.  When May could finally come up for air without help, he/she could stay in shallow water all the time.  As he/she improved, the water depth was slowly increased a few inches every day until May was ready to be placed into one of our larger systems in April.

About two months after her arrival, we began treating her wounds with RediHeal, a bioglass based fiber, and bone cement.  Bone cement can be mixed with antibiotics and hardens onto the wound, making it more waterproof.  As his/her wounds healed, May’s debridement’s and bone cement changes were reduced to once a week.  The wound healed up enough to stop all treatments in March, and he/she is now only receiving check-ups (regular physical exams).

This sea turtle’s gender is unknown as there is no external way to tell until they are adults.  We could run blood tests or do an internal procedure to find out, but this is both expensive and stressful for us and the turtle.  As it doesn’t effect their treatment, we don’t do either of these unless necessary.  And, in a case like May’s, when we were trying to get her to eat and recover from a serious injury, we want to keep his/her as relaxed as possible.

May was given his/her prerelease exam on May 7th, marking him/her as ready to return to the ocean.  He/she will be released this Friday during Amelia Wild.  And now, five months after his/her arrival, May is swimming around with ease and ready to go home.  He/she was given the name May because he/she originally stranded in Mayport, and also because of this sea turtle’s aMAYzing recovery.

A boy picking through marine debris.

Many of the turtles that come to the GSTC have been effected by humans; some have been hit by boats or cars while others have ingested trash, also known as marine debris, or been entangled in fishing line and other string like materials. NOAA defines marine debris as any man-made object discarded, disposed of, or abandoned that enters the coastal or marine environment. It is estimated by the National Academy of Sciences that about 14 billion pounds of trash enters the ocean per year. Many of us have probably contributed to that trash on accident, from things such as: that napkin or plastic bag that was  lost in the wind during a beach picnic, a balloon that was  allowed to floated away, or even just the fishing line that was  forgotten to be pick up when leaving the beach for the day.

Most people do not think about how long it takes for their forgotten trash to decompose once it is in the ocean. It can

Some beaches have large amounts of plastic wash up giving them the name "plastic beaches."

often take a lot longer than you would imagine. Plastic bags, like the ones you get from your local grocery store, can take up to 20 years to decompose, cigarette butts can take up to 5 years, aluminum cans can take up to 200 years, and Monofilament fishing line can take up to 600 years. With all of this trash floating around in the ocean marine animals have a pretty good chance of coming in contact with it.

One of our current sea turtle patients has a very amazing story that involves marine debris. Mahi, a juvenile green sea turtle was brought to the center late one evening in mid January with monofilament fishing line wrapped around his/her left front flipper and another piece of line coming out of his/her mouth. When Mahi was found the end of the line was wrapped around a tree branch and a picnic table. After looking over his/her wounds we quickly removed the line around his/her flipper and then began emergency surgery to remove the line from his/her GI tract. Luckily there was not a hook attached to the end of the line in Mahi’s GI tract, but just a ball of tangled line. Unfortunately the line wrapped around Mahi’s flipper had cut down to the bone and had cut off the circulation to the flipper tissue for too long. The morning after his/her arrival we decided we needed to amputate the flipper. Mahi recovered from his/her surgeries very quickly and began eating and swimming strongly within a few days.

Mahi on arrival (top picture) and a few days after surgery (bottom picture).

Other turtles at the GSTC have come in with fishing hooks in their mouth, plastic in their GI tract, fishing line around their appendages and in their GI tracts. Unfortunately, not all of these cases end up being a happy ending like Mahi’s. Marine debris can end up looking like food items, such as jelly fish, after being tossed around in the ocean. If a turtles is eating a lot of these food item look alikes they end up feeling full, but not getting the nutrition that they need. These items are also often very hard on their GI tract and hard for them to pass, making the turtle feel sick.

Plastic grocery bags can look a lot like a Jellyfish when floating in the ocean water.

A balloon from the ocean next to a Jellyfish.

So what can you do to help limit the amount of marine debris in our oceans?

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Use reusable shopping bags, sandwich and snack containers, and water bottles

• Make sure you dispose of your trash and fishing gear after a day on the beach.

• Participate in a beach clean up.

By Husbandry AmeriCorps Member: Emily Mitchell

Terrapin crossing the road in search of high/dry ground to nest

It’s starting to feel like summer finally which means that the nesting season for terrapins is quickly approaching! Typically starting around the first of May, terrapin females will begin migrating from their aquatic homes, traveling much further than they normally would in search of high/dry ground to lay their nests (they’ve been known to travel several miles in order to reach optimal nesting grounds.) Every year females cross the causeways on Georgia’s Barrier Islands (Jekyll, St. Simons, and Tybee) and are killed by motor vehicles. On Jekyll alone we have witnessed 944 dead terrapins in only 6 seasons.

CLICK TO VIEW JEKYLL CAUSEWAY TERRAPIN LOCATIONS (2009-2012)

Jekyll’s causeway is only about 6 miles long. This means that on average, each of those 6 miles sees 26 dead females every single season. It’s clear that management is needed for this species. By protecting the mature females we can hope to save this species from further decline.

Early May means the GSTC (along with UGA students) will seine local creeks to help determine the status of the population around Jekyll. This is an annual event that entails pulling a seine net through specific creeks in the marsh at the right tidal time.

In the past we have witnessed a male to female bias of about 4:1. Other studies, on the other hand, tend to witness ratios of about 2:1. Since Jekyll witnesses so many female deaths annually it is little surprise that the population around Jekyll contains less females than in other, healthy populations.

A lot of work, but also a lot of fun

On May 1 we will also begin monitoring the causeway regularly, making sure we monitor during the high tide (specifically half an hour before to two hours after).

Turtle van on the causeway getting ready to patrol for terrapins.

Since terrapins do not own very good calendars, May 1 is only an average date. In reality nesting behavior is most likely based on a combination of temporal and climatological factors (it will be interesting to see if our late cold spell delays the first nesting event). Monitoring will continue throughout the season (usually until late July). The turtles come out through all periods of the summer but a trend has been noticed demonstrating two or three peaks within the season. These peak days, along with the peak times can witness 30-40 animals within an hour!

It’s not uncommon to hear visitors and locals comment that they no longer see terrapins on the causeway. For some this has meant that the problem is solved, for others it meant the damage was already done, but the reality is that terrapins are still being hit on our causeway in large numbers. The difference now is that the dead terrapins are being taken off the causeway very soon after being hit as part of our research. We want to stress that the lack of turtles on the road does not mean that the situation has ended. So keep your eyes peeled and slow down when traveling on causeways crossing marsh habitat because there may be an expectant mother in the road!

NEW FOR 2013: As mentioned in a previous entry, this year we have the new flashing signs to warn drivers of peak terrapin activity. These lights are programed to flash during those high tide times when we’ve witnessed most of the terrapins coming up on the causeway to nest.

Flashing turtle crossing signs will flash during high tide.

Thanks for watching out for the turtles,
Dan Quinn (Diamondback Terrapin Member)

Spring has sprung, it’s time for some outdoor fun!

Join us at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center as we Shell-e-brate Earth Day on Saturday, April 13^th from 11am to 3pm.  This fun, family friendly event is included with paid general admission.  Activities include crafts, exhibits, games, Earthly magic and even live animals!  Don’t forget to meet Scute and bee on the look out for the Bag Monster Display!  Sea how you can help sea turtles and keep the oceans healthy.  Find out why honey is so important to sea turtles.  Don’t forget to sample an Earthly treat that you’re sure to enjoy.  Additional food will be available for purchase by HoneyBaked Ham of Brunswick.

For more information, click on the button below.

SEA YOU THERE!

Each year, during the month of March, AmeriCorps members and alumni take a week to celebrate the extraordinary impact AmeriCorps members make and have made across the country. This year, AmeriCorps Week is March 9-17, and the theme is, “AmeriCorps Work.”  The theme focuses on AmeriCorps return on investments for the recipients of the service, the people who serve and the larger community and nation.

To celebrate AmeriCorps Week, several GSTC AmeriCorps members spent a day helping out Sapelo Farms in Brunswick, GA.  Sapelo Farms is one of the last remaining farms in Glynn County. The farm has open pastures and fields of sustainable agriculture. Sapelo Farms sells seasonal produce through a Community Supported Agriculture Program. The farm also maintains honey bees, cattle, goats and chickens.

During our day on Sapelo Farms, we were able to help prepare potatoes for planting, plant potatoes in hilled rows and cover the freshly planted potatoes with hay. After the potatoes were planted, we spent the afternoon building wire fences. These fences will be used by the farm’s tomato plants. Other activities of the day included feeding the goats and then spending some time playing with all of the baby goats on the farm this year. It was a great day of service where GSTC AmeriCorps members were able to help an important component of our local community and learn a little bit more about sustainable farming!

AmeriCorps Volunteer Member Caitlin Sampson and AmeriCorps Education Member Morgan McCall with two of the Sapelo Farms goats.