As part of Jekyll Island’s Turtle Crawl Festivities, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center will be

presenting educational programs about their mission. At the end of the festival, Savannah, a loggerhead turtle rescued on June 25, 2005 from Cumberland Island, will be released!

She was found beached, lethargic and almost in a comatose state. She was paralyzed in all 4 limbs, with mild shark bites on her front flippers, and possible blunt trauma to her head. It is also suspected that she suffered from a type of parasite that travels through the bloodstream and eventually lodges itself in the brain causing stroke like symptoms. She was treated with antibiotics, fluid therapy and a high dose parasite dewormer. Thanks to thanks to Dr.. Terry Norton, consulting veterinarian for the GSTC, and workers at the Marine Science Center in Daytona, Florida, there was a successful outcome. By the first of August, she started to eat on her own and currently weighs in at approximately 140 lbs.

Loggerhead sea turtles have found a safe haven on Jekyll Island. From May through August, under the cover of darkness, female loggerheads swim ashore, make their way across the sand, dig their nests and lay approximately 120 eggs. Jekyll Island is committed to ensuring that nature’s routine is undisturbed. You can participate on an evening guided turtle walk offered June through mid-August. Throughout the summer, female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) have returned to Jekyll Island and the Georgia coast to deliver their all-important cargo: clutches of soft, leathery, ping-pong ball-sized eggs.

Throughout the hot summer months, tucked inside their eggs -virtual self-contained mini-aquariums, young sea turtles have begun to develop and embark on their quest for survival. During this time, the defenseless eggs are vulnerable to hungry predators like ghost crabs, foxes, and raccoons. A combination of natural erosion and tidal washovers, beach development, and human disturbance create further obstacles. Biologists estimate that only about one in every four thousand turtles will survive until reproductive maturity, at around age 34. Incubation lasts an average of sixty days, though eggs laid earlier in the season, when temperatures are lower, often take a few days longer to develop.

Hatching begins as sand begins to crack, erupt, and spill over with the determined babies. Most of these emerging turtles will leave the nest, just as they entered it, at night. The cover of darkness provides limited protection and a slightly cooler trek to the sea. Hatchlings orient towards the brightest part of the horizon; artificial lights—such as flashlights and other outdoor lighting create a far brighter target than the ocean, often leading the tiny turtles in the wrong direction.
While researchers can easily monitor healthy turtles, if the animals become ill or injured, they must be transported to rehabilitation facilities in other states. Scheduled to be open in the summer of 2007, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center will be dedicated to the rehabilitation of these mysterious animals, while serving to educate the public about their story. The facility will occupy the 1903 Power Plant within the Jekyll Island National Historic Landmark District.

The renovated building will house educational exhibits, surgical and rehabilitation areas, an information center and gift shop.

If you would like to help build the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, visit www.georgiaseaturtles.org.