Above - "Show me the water!"

Photos submitted by Karen Sota

Topsail Island, NC - Well – they’re gone. Sixteen healthy turtles have left the building: three Kemp’s Ridleys, four Greens and nine Loggerheads, including our big girl and star of turtle cam, “Cora.” On the way out the door, she turned one last time to pass the baton. “Swan” grabbed it and now shines just as brightly in that spotlight. By the way, Cora said the camera obviously does make you look fat because she was a svelte 200 pounds!

This release saw a lot of hefty sea turtles headed out, so Jean called on the military to help with the heavy lifting. The US Navy corpsmen from the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune quickly learned that sea turtles are very anxious to get where they’re going and they tend to slap you silly in their efforts to “help.” Big old flippers with sharp nails on bare legs leave their mark, so they all returned to base to show off their latest set of battle wounds.

A large contingent from the N.C. Aquarium at Ft. Fisher also arrived to lift and transport. The great folks at Jones-Onslow brought their truck and Land Rover of Wilmington provided cushy rides for the smaller Greens. Gus Simmons and Lisa Manning from Cavanaugh & Associates, the engineers for our new building, experienced the best part of our job first hand, first time.

The day was perfect: sunny, a gentle surf and a cheering crowd. Honorary escorts, children representing all the schools as well as grandchildren of our volunteers, carried signs with each turtle’s name. Two “hatchlings” from Dixon Elementary braved the heat in great looking sea turtle outfits they made themselves.

Our turtle handlers, carrying the small Greens and Kemps, traveled slowly along the ropes past our honor guard of beach walkers to allow the spectators one last glimpse. The big turtles were carted as quickly as possible straight down the center, flapping and slapping their way to the surf. Most shot through the water as soon they could get some leverage.

Right:  Kemp's "Pound" chillin' out in the truck on her way to freedom.

Only two gave us some laughs: “Pound” decided she would just loll around and ride the waves for a while, probably fuming because she thought we had yet again moved her to another tank. “Quatro” shot out, thought about it and then circled around a few moments later in a kind of sea turtle “fly by.” We tried to redirect him as he swam through our legs but the little guy was like a jet, eluding us all until Mike finally snagged him and headed him back out to sea.

There are too many people to mention individually, so a big giant flipper hug goes out to you all, especially our year-round hospital volunteers who have spent countless hours rehabilitating these guys and gals, and particularly to Betsy and Mike who have fined tuned the art of taking down tanks and staging the turtles for transport.

Summer interns, old and new were pressed into service. And we can’t forget Bill O’Brien, husband of long ago intern, now DVM Heather who is expecting her own hatching in September. Bill comes religiously to help out whenever we need big shoulders, and has invested in a pair of bright orange non-slip gloves for those occasions.

Last, but certainly not least, was Terry’s troop of beach walkers who manned the release area, entertaining the crowds and keeping order during the process. And thanks to the crowd – you have no idea how much we appreciated your cooperation in staying behind the ropes and making this release one of the most enjoyable we’ve had in years! Now, back to work as we await another typically busy summer of injured and sick turtles.
 
The hospital is OPEN!

Our doors are open! Even though half of our patients left us last week we still have plenty of work to do as we admit new sea turtles faster than we had hoped. “Lennie,” our resident Kemp’s Ridley now has a week of “ambassadorial duties” under his flippers and is thoroughly enjoying his new role at the hospital.

The interns are gaining experience every day and are able to answer the harder questions – go ahead and test them!

Of course, our gift shop is open and we have the usual assortment of T-shirts, hats, bags and stuffed turtles.

This year, our new hatchling shirt in pink honors women and families touched by breast cancer. This is near and dear to many of us at the hospital who are breast cancer survivors.

Tour info: Open every day, (except Wednesday and Sunday), from 2 – 4 PM. As the summer progresses so do the numbers of visitors, so early arrival is encouraged if you don’t like lines. We close without notice (but usually for only a short period of time) for incoming turtles and/or dangerous weather conditions. For more info: 910-328-3377.
 
Turtle Talks every Wednesday

First of all, our prayers and positive vibes go out to THE turtle talk lady, Lilmar, as she recovers from a traffic accident that left her badly shaken but thankfully not seriously injured. This incredible lady has bounced back from “things” so many times, we suspect she’s part flubber! Her very first presentation Memorial Day week had a record attendance.

Weekly turtle talks continue every Wednesday through Labor Day. This one-hour presentation, 3:45 – 4:45 PM will include lots of hands-on materials to introduce you to the secretive world of sea turtles. The visuals and handouts are appropriate for ages K-adult, and there will be plenty of cool photo ops, so bring your camera. The site is the Surf City Community Center, JH Batts Rd. (off Rt. 210 between Docksider and Gilligans.)

Admission is free but donations for our turtles are appreciated. Please leave food and drinks in the car. For more information call the hospital at: 910-328-3377.

Left:  Little Green "Uno" sheds his hospital hat before taking to the surf.

Nesting News 

I hesitate to put a number in this column because it changes daily. Let’s just say that right now Gayle Childress has been spending a lot of quality time with mama turtles up on the north end of the island. We have a theory as to why all the action is there, but you’ll have to wait for another column to find out what it is.

I got a great “Class of 2008” photo of the beach crew at the release. Again, another column.

In the meantime, you can keep track of the Topsail nesting season by visiting our website: www.seaturtlehospital.org.

Please report all sea turtle activity (nestings, strandings, injured turtles or hatchings) to our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer @ 910-470-2880.

Questions, comments or suggestions for stories
Contact me at: flippers@embarqmail.com.