Turtle Release

 

Today we visited Jekyll Island to witness the release of five sea turtles back into the ocean.  Jekyll Island is home to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and the work done there is amazing!  My sister and her children visited the center about a month ago and went on and on about how interesting it was.  So, I found out there was going to be a turtle release today and the older two girls and I made plans to attend.  The release was at 9:00 in the morning.  The crowd was unbelievable!  There must have been 1,000 people there...at least.  We found our spot and waited for the turtles.  The staff carried each turtle down the beach so everyone there could see them;  then released the turtles into the ocean.  Some of the sea turtles were huge and others were small.  The girls were thrilled to see the turtles up close and watch them swim "home".

After the release, we made our way to the sea turtle center.  The center was small but very, very well laid out and educational.  When we arrived, each of us were given a piece of paper that we could stamp at each learning center.  The stamp told us whether we were male or female, were we migrated to, what grew on our shell, and how long we lived.  Claire's turtle lived to be only 1 year old.  Ava lived to be 15 years old and I lived to be 29 years old.  They had some of the neatest displays and the girls and I learned so much.  For example, did you know that the determining factor of whether a sea turtle will be a male or female depends on the temperature of the sand during incubation?  That is so cool!

We also visited the sea turtle hospital that is on the premises to see some of the patients.  We were able to read about the turtles and their illness.  We all loved the center so much that I think we will go back when it is peak season for laying eggs and participate in a nest walk.

This was a cast of an actual sea turtle.
It was huge!!

Weighing a hatchling!
 



We ran into Hayden & Harper