Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Sea Turtle ER

When I researched the area in Georgia where we were staying, the only thing I really wanted to check out was the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island.  As a young girl I wanted nothing more than to grow up to become a marine biologist.  Along the way my dreams were somewhat dashed.  The lies:  "You have to be good at math to be a biologist, and you aren't very good at math."  and "You are really only a B science student, you aren't capable of anything more."  Of course those things echoed in my mind over the "You really should ditch this English teaching nonsense and teach science."  and "You have so much promise in organic chemistry."  and the fact that I was able to literally sleep through my college biology class and still get an A...

I'm not sure why we humans are so quick to latch onto the negative things and toss aside the positive.

Regardless, I am glad I was able to learn so much about English literature and teach so many about the wonders of metaphor, simile, and symbolism, but I have never lost my great love for marine life and science in all of its forms.

We lucked out and the sea turtle center had discounts for homeschoolers.  I got in for FREE as the "homeschool teacher".

After we paid (or didn't!), we each got a baby sea turtle card as our I.D. for our visit.  In each area of the center, there was a button to press (randomly placed).  You could choose between four buttons (blindly).  Once you pressed the button onto your I.D. you got to see what happened to you as you traveled from hatchling on to the big ocean and possible adulthood.

Inside the center you could see a baby sea turtle rescued on the beaches of Jekyll Island swimming in a tank, the turtle emergency and trauma center, videos about sea turtles, sea turtle foods (in the flesh and swimming or crawling inside tanks), and a myriad of ways that you can help sea turtles to survive and thrive in the wild.

Inside the center.

This is one of the button stations.  This was asked "How long did I live?"  Only my turtle lived to adulthood.

Jonah stayed at this computer station for almost an hour.  It shows an injured sea turtle and allows you to diagnose its condition using x-rays, blood tests, and the powers of observation. 

After the above portion of the tour, we were able to step into the marine laboratory where many sea turtles were recovering from injury.  There was a boardwalk so the public would keep their distance, but it was absolutely close enough to see the turtles in their respective tanks.

Each turtle tank had an accompanying podium with a book about the turtle and its injuries, treatment, and prospective recovery.

Babies!

SO tiny!

After the recovery pools, we thought we were ready to head home for the day, but one of the staff members approached us and invited us to a puppet show!

So of course we went.

We all left singing the "Georgia, Sea Turtle Center..." song and remembering the puppet journey of the Loggerhead.

Each kid was able to get one clothing item and one small souvenier (with a price limit) from the Center.  Jonah is pictured with his clothing item below.  Maeryn chose a raspberry colored sea turtle T-shirt and both kids got sea turtle magnets that are currently floating around the bus.  

If you ever find yourself in Southern Georgia, a visit to the Sea Turtle Center is a must.  It also got me thinking...  it might be time to break out the science books.  For myself.