Photo by Karen Sota

Bay boarding her private jet!

Topsail Island, North Carolina - It’s been a slow journey, but "Bay has left the building."

By now, practically everybody knows that Bay, star of turtle cam, has been looking for a ride to Minnesota for most of this year. But our quest for the best possible life and care for her started over two years ago. Jim Gramlin, a wiz at placing animals that cannot be released back into the wild, came armed with his video camera and spent two days filming our girl. Knowing that her future depended on putting her best flipper forward, Bay turned in an Oscar-winning performance. In fact, several zoo/aquariums were envisioning her in their reef tanks based on the strength of her "audition tape."

But Bay has a really tough agent: Jean Beasley. We suspect Jean’s old teacher genes kicked in as she looked at what everybody had to offer and mentally assigned a grade to each facility. Was it big enough to accommodate a rapidly growing sea turtle and did they have good experience in caring for sea turtles? What was the staff like, the caretakers and the vets? Were they willing to go the extra mile to ensure that Bay’s unusual medical condition was carefully monitored and treated appropriately? What would her life be like in their reef tank?

We can only imagine what Bay is going to think about sharing living quarters with a sea turtle’s natural enemy – sharks. In the end, the Minnesota Zoo and Aquarium met the grade and after detailed negotiations, Jean and Bay signed on the dotted line.

So there we were. They wanted her, we wanted to send her and she wanted to go. But how?

If you’ve ever spent time around a sea turtle in an enclosed space, you’d know that driving her 1,000+ miles was out of the question. We couldn’t find a hotel that would let a guest sea turtle sleep in their pool overnight. And you’d probably have to burn your vehicle because the smell would never come out.

Commercial air carrier was a not an option. How would you like to sit in front of a sea turtle that kept kicking the back of your seat with its flippers? Can’t you just see her riding the luggage carousel?

Photo by Karen Sota

Bay’s flight crew.

(L-R) Pilot Raymond, Co-pilot Allan, flight attendant Jean.

After five years of treating her like the little princess she is, we were not about to jeopardize our hard work and her well being just so Minnesota could have a green turtle in their exhibit. So, we put out the word, "sea turtle needs private plane transport."

Many people responded but that confirmed booking eluded Bay until one of our summer open house visitors came up with a plan.

Laura Webster plays on a co-ed soccer team in the DC area. One of her teammates just happened to be a pilot who flies a private jet and the owner just might take pity on a needy sea turtle. It never hurts to ask and are we glad they did!

So we had the how, we just needed to firm up the when. The when turned out to be Sunday, October 29th.

Jean and Bay packed on very short notice and, after a final spit-polish of Bay’s shell, both were on their way to the Wilmington airport. Bay and her happy, (but somewhat conflicted), departure cortège waited by the runway trying to pick out "her" jet as planes landed and taxied.

When a Cessna Citation II taxied toward us our eyes bugged out in a collective "WOW!" Bay (and Jean) had a bona-fide JET, and TWO pilots, and leather seats!

Finally, Bay was about to meet her pilots and learn the identity of her benefactor.

Capt. Raymond and Co-Capt. Allan introduced themselves and said they were honored and very excited to be transporting their first ever sea turtle. They deemed this particular mission "the really fun part" of their job. We’ll be forever grateful to Sema Birach, owner of radio station WDMV in Washington, DC, for the donation of his marvelous flying machine. In no time at all the jet was refueled and we had Jean and Bay safely strapped in for their 3-1/2 hour flight to Minneapolis.

A final wave, and a "call us when you get there" and the girls were headed west.

Upon arrival, Jean and Bay were transported to the aquarium where they met up with Sandy Sly, long-time hospital volunteer, who flew up on an earlier commercial flight. It was important to us that Bay not feel like we had abandoned her. We wanted her to see some familiar faces and hear friendly voices as she acclimated to her new environment.

Turns out Bay had her own definition of adaptation. As Bay swam around her new digs, she made a point of making her feelings known to Jean and Sandy by purposely swimming out of her way to avoid them, giving them the "evil eye." No amount of coaxing could entice Bay to visit with them. But when one of her new caretakers took her out to weigh her, she decided that, from now on, he was her new BFF.

But even a sea turtle can hold a grudge for only so long. Right before Jean and Sandy left, Bay relented and made time in her busy schedule for a quick, very quick, good-bye.

Bay will spend three weeks in her isolation tank getting used to the staff, her new diet and the Minnesota version of seawater. After that, she’ll move to a transition tank, one attached to the reef tank, but separated from it by a gate.

She and her new friends will be able to see each other but not interact. If things go well, the gate will open and Bay will be released into the big reef exhibit tank within a week. Jean will be on-hand for the big event, assuming she gets an invite from Bay.

We’ll update you when the Carolina girl makes her Midwest debut.

Comments/questions?  Contact: editor@topsailpublishing.com.

For more information on our wonderful sea turtles, go to www.seaturtlehospital.org.