Housed in the old power plant of once-private community known as the “Jekyll Island Club”, a research, rehabilitation and instructional facility now delights those who visit.
The Educational Element
Upon entering the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, visitors encounter a gift shop containing books, merchandise and trinkets pertaining to sea turtles and environmental issues. While the displays are intriguing, save perusing them until the end of the visit, for within the center itself can be found fascinating informational materials.
After paying the nominal entry fee, the visitor selects a “sea turtle” to follow through its life cycle. Interactive exhibits include a stamping station where each sea turtle finds out how it fared. For example, at the egg laying station, the stamps include “above the tide line”, “below the tide line”, “on a path”, etc. The display describes how difficult it is for the turtle eggs to make it through to hatching before making their way as fledgling turtles to the sea.
Other exhibits include how sea turtles survive ocean currents, their nutritional needs, dangers from boating accidents, fishing lines, and predators. The target audience is young people who can make a difference by being aware of the hazards facing sea turtles. One goal of the center is to increase awareness of the habitat of the sea turtle and to encourage people to be conscious of how humans impact it.
The Rehabilitation Element
Leaving the educational center, visitors exit the main room and walk outside the building to the enclosed rehab facility. This may be the most captivating part of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.
Individual tanks fill the climate-controlled room and sea turtles with various injuries or diseases can be found in each. Some have weights on their bodies since an imbalance problem has affected their equilibrium. Others have lost a flipper due to a shark attack and need to regain paddling maneuvers. Some have sharp cuts in their shells due to being run over by a boat propeller.
Under the auspices of marine biologists and veterinarians, volunteers treat each turtle for its specific need. A treatment room is visible through a large window so that visitors can observe the procedures. Many methods are quite innovative. For example, frostbite affected turtles receive a dose of antiseptic cream mixed with diaper rash ointment to heal their wounds. The ointment assists the cream in remaining on the shell while the turtle is in the water.
Volunteers are on hand to describe the rehabilitation and medical work being done. AmeriCorps sends a contingent of workers to assist along with local people. Summer camps encourage teenagers to become involved in some of the mundane tasks necessary to caring for the sea turtles.
The goal of the rehab center is to return the sea turtles to their natural habitat in the ocean but for some, this will be a long road to recovery. When they are released, satellite-tracking devices are usually attached to their bodies so that more research can be done regarding their movements.
The Research Element
While many things are known about these wonderful creatures of the sea, there is still plenty to learn. As their habitats are shrinking due to development along shorelines and increased population, research and education combine to find ways to meet the challenges.
In the treatment center, doctors are learning ways that humans can be helped through the procedures used on the turtles. Some of the balance exercises used with the sea turtles also work with people.
Jekyll Island, one of the barrier islands along the southern Georgia coast, is an ideal location for the sea turtle research center due to the large number of nesting areas.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center offers a diverse opportunity to learn about these creatures, engage in conversation regarding them, see first-hand the ways they are aided and healed from illness or maiming, and be enlightened about their place in creation.
The gift center contains environmentally friendly items, books and clothing to support continued research and rehabilitation.
Ethel Brodie - Intrigued by the world, encouraged to write my observations, published in newspapers and magazines, and sharing special places.
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