Witness One Sea Turtle's Happy ending...

In the beginning of March, Neil and I got a call about a dead turtle on the beach. We went to check it out, and it was a juvenile Green sea turtle, and it looked pretty dead to me. Right as Neil asked, "how do we know it's dead?" it moved its head a little! It suddenly became a much more urgent situation! Nancy Hickman, an Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch volunteer, came out and took measurements and observations and then had it rushed to a sea turtle hospital on Jekyll Island, GA. Here is her letter to me the next day:

Thanks again for all your assistance in rescuing the sea turtle. All
of
you did a great job.

KC, the Green sea turtle, was safely
delivered
to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center at Jekyll Island. When we
arrived we
learned that two more juvenile Greens were en route from
Cumberland
Island. Two more were rescued at St. Augustine beach last
Thursday.
The center is pretty full right now. Some patients
are ready for
release except the water is too cold.

Dr. Allen
Foley asked all of us here on Amelia Island to
keep a 'heads up' in case
there are more. In September of 2006, some
sort of event occurred along
the Georgia and NE Florida coast that killed
over a hundred sub-adult
loggerheads. A few were saved because they
were found live and gotten to a
rehab facility quickly enough to be
treated.

I've attached the four
photos that we took upon
arrival at GSTC. There for research purposes, but
I thought you might
like to have them. Especially the head shot.
He/she really is a
pretty little turtle. After they do a good clean-up to
get the
barnacles cleaned off, KC will be a real knock-out.

The
website
at the GA Sea Turtle Center is http://www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org/. I'll
keep you posted
if I learn more from KC in the next few
days.

Thanks again.
Your work yesterday made a huge
difference for one small sea
turtle.

Nancy Hickman
Amelia
Island Sea Turtle Watch

Nancy went to visit KC the day after Easter, and she was doing great! The culprit of the turtles' sickness was an unknown toxin...veterinarians at the University of Florida and Fish and Wildlife are conducting studies to gain more information.


During the Wild Amelia Fest this weekend (May 15-17), Dr. Terry Norton, director of the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center, plans on releasing rehabilitated sea turtles, possibly even our KC! They plan to release three turtles - 2 green turtles and 1 Kemp's ridley at 11am at Main Beach in Fernandina. Both species are on the endangered list. Hope you're able to attend! Come early to get a parking place and find a spot to watch. Once the turtles are ready to be released they don't stay on the beach very long!