Here at UNC-Greensboro, we offer a class called Biology & Conservation of Sea Turtles, composed of 12 students committed to changing the world around them for the betterment of both sea turtles and the Earth. To kick off the semester, we volunteered at Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Island, North Carolina, and we recently returned to the Sea Turtle Hospital this week to wrap up the semester together.
After most of our class endured the wrath of Tropical Storm Ana the night before, we were all surprisingly cheerful to start work at the Sea Turtle Hospital the following morning. We were separated into groups, and I was fortunate enough to work in Turtle Bay. Turtle Bay is a large wing of the hospital that houses long-term sea turtles, some with crippling conditions, such as blindness and tumors. Because of these conditions, the ability to release them is severely inhibited. We fed the turtles a variety of greens, capelin, cucumbers, and peppers, depending on the species.
Photo credit: Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Camp
One of the turtles, Lennie, is blind. Lennie had to be fed with a great amount of patience. Lennie's squid was chopped into 1 inch pieces, and the volunteers had to feed her each piece one at a time. After feeding all of the turtles in Turtle Bay, we waited half an hour for the turtles to digest. During this time, we swept, mopped, and washed windows. What a lot of people don't understand about working in animal care is that most of your time is spent cleaning, and a clean environment is what helps these animals live and recover successfully. It is not always glamorous work!
On Wednesday, we were fortunate enough to be involved in a sea turtle necropsy. The North Carolina Sea Turtle Biologist, Matthew Godfrey came to the sea turtle hospital with a turtle that had been very ill and recently passed away. Performing a necropsy helps biologists determine the cause of death, and formulate an action plan in hopes to prevent this incident for other animals. This turtle was a juvenile Loggerhead, and once the necropsy began, and we were able to touch and feel different internal structures. We learned so much more about sea turtle biology. For those of you with weak stomachs, I'll exclude the photos!
Overall, it was an awesome trip, with many surprising twists and turns. I am so grateful to be part of this group of like-minded individuals working together for the environment.
I will reunite with this group in August, when we travel to the birthplace of sea turtle research, Tortuguero, Costa Rica!
Until then...
Until then...
3 days until Alaska!
xoxo,
Jules
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