Sea Turtle Hospital News

Where we are

Every day we get asked: when is the new hospital going to be ready? We’re finally far enough along in the process that we feel comfortable in throwing out a date: October 31, 2010.

The paperwork for all the permits has been submitted and in fact we have all but one in our tightly clenched flippers. That single remaining permit is in the final stages and we expect to have it very shortly. We’re good-to-go on clearing the land as soon as we can get onto the site. Our builder, Baldwin Construction, is working with Surf City officials to secure access to our property until construction on the new road is complete.

We had an opportunity to meet with Amy, our “water gal expert” from Aquatic Ecosystems as she was passing through the area. And just when we thought nothing about providing water to our patients could surprise us – surprise! The new system is designed to handle about as much water as the Hoover Dam. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But with our greatly expanded turtle room a lot more water will be flowing in and out of pumps, filters and tanks than we had imagined. We’ll be re-purposing our existing system and its parts in the new building, and Amy had some great ideas for economical options to pricey custom equipment. She also has sources for surplus equipment that we can get at a discount. It’s good to know people who know people!

The building will be steel construction. Once we start, barring any unforeseen events, it should go up pretty quickly. The floors will be concrete, but we’ve found some really cool turtle stamps to dress them up a bit. The inside will be utilitarian in keeping with our traditional focus on its use as a turtle hospital. Honestly, sea turtles don’t really care much about what the place looks like as long as they have a nice tank of warm water and a fresh bowl of squid every morning. We won’t be spending any money on mints at bedtime.

And of course we’ll have a LOT more space! No more dieting the night before we work so we can squeeze through the tanks. It will be safer and more pleasant not only for our volunteers but also for our turtles (especially when we transport them to the exercise pool for their daily workout) and for our visitors.

Our new facility is definitely going to become a “destination.” And we’ll be able to remain open year-round. We’ll be educational, interactive and visitor friendly. All this progress is energizing and we’re really excited that so many of you have taken on our “Family Giving Challenge” to help us raise the funds for our building. If you haven’t heard about how you can get in on the ground floor (and wall) get the details at our website: www.seaturtlehospital.org. You can also check out our revised “Adopt A Sea Turtle” program. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so we’ve created a special adoption package sure to win over even the most hard-to-shop-for loved one. Have a heart – adopt a sea turtle!

Exciting Job Opportunities!

Since the building is moving along we decided we’d better get moving on figuring out how we’re going to staff our expanded space. Over the years Jean has kept a file of people who have expressed a desire to volunteer at the hospital. We’ve been reviewing and updating our records, and if you’ve not been contacted in the past year please accept our apologies. People move and change their e-mail addresses and we often run into a dead end. So now is the time to apply again.

Qualifications: Most importantly, you must be willing to commit to working at least one day a week for nine months (September through May.) Although many of us also work during the summer when the interns are here that’s not required. You can take the three summer months off to enjoy family, friends and vacation. Of course if you find yourself missing the turtles you can always schlep down to our open house to visit them. While we’re still in our present building you’ll be working in very close quarters, in a lot of humidity. And it can get pretty warm inside. You’ll need to be able to lift forty pounds (turtles, pumps, etc.) and it helps if you’re flexible enough to climb in and out of tanks that are about three feet high. You can’t be afraid of getting dirty, or smelly. It’s not a glamour job but the look of gratitude on a recovering turtle’s face is worth the grime and odor.

When we open the doors at the new hospital we’ll need additional help. People who love retail sales can work in our gift shop. We’ll also need tour guides and admissions staff. We could use experienced administrative people to handle some of the office work, too. If you’re ready to step up and get involved please contact me via e-mail: flippers@att.net. I’ll send you an application and together we’ll start building our crew of volunteers.

Questions, comments or to receive our soon-to-be published newsletter

Contact me at: flippers@embarqmail.com with questions or comments. Contact me at: flippers@att.net to request to be added to the e-mail newsletter. For those of you already signed up and wondering when you’re getting it, we’ve had to redirect all of our energy to the new building and the winter care of our patients. But it’s coming – soon! This column will appear in print every other week through next spring.

Karen Sota is the volunteer media coordinator for the Sea Turtle Hospital in Topsail Beach.