Sea Turtle Hospital News

There's a real scholar in our midst, or more accurately in the perpetual "mist" of humidity that surrounds the hospital. Carolyn Collier hails from Richmond, Virginia and attends the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Over the years family and friends have related tales of their time at Topsail and their visits to the hospital. But what finally sent her in our direction were the article about our hospital in Guideposts, and her designation as a Monroe Scholar. With that honor came grant money to pursue an independent research project. Fortunately for us she chose to focus on sea turtle conservation.

Shortly after her arrival Carolyn found a nest, and was recruited to assist in relocating it above the high-tide line. Her research includes placing a probe in selected nesting sites and logging data on sand temperature. Since the temperature of the sand during incubation determines the sex of the hatchlings the data is a good predictor of what kinds of babies are being born here. After hatching and nest analysis she'll crunch the numbers to see if there's any correlation between temperature and hatch rate. A third aspect of her project involves case studies on several of our patients, documenting treatment protocol and noting the effects on wound healing.

Carolyn shares the view of all our interns that our 12-week program is everything she expected it to be, and more. Since she's keeping actual records of her observations she's really tuned into the progress our turtles make and is amazed at their capacity to heal quickly. She recalls the pitiful states of several patients upon admission (Lockwood, Wrightsville and Channel) and now describes them all as "feisty." The June release gave her a clear picture of our goal, what we're all working towards: get those turtles healthy and back where they belong. Her advice to would-be interns is to be passionate and serious about working with animals, and to give 110 percent. Don't come because you think sea turtles are "cute."

Even though Carolyn declined Nathan's offer to become one of his surfer girls she doesn't lack for activities to occupy her spare time. She enjoys going to the beach, riding her bike and reading. In fact, the interns have started a book club and I'm sure the discussions can get pretty interesting. When Carolyn returns to her junior year she'll continue her studies toward a degree in biology, with eyes toward vet school or VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science.) At school she plays piccolo in the Pep Band, and the oboe "on the side." You might want to ask her if she "takes requests" from our patients, or what, if any effect music has on sea turtles or their nests.

Spanning the globe

"The sea turtle hospital is small in size, but once inside the positive-ness of the volunteers is gigantic."  That's a quote from a 2008 Duke Marine Global Fellow from Belize, Central America. It was international day at the hospital when Dr. Larry Crowder gathered together marine biologists and researchers from across the globe and brought them to our world. Many of these individuals, enrolled in the Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation class at Duke, have invested years in various aspects of conservation and the environment, and particularly sea turtles.

"Jean is very special...has given me strength to go ahead and dream about my turtle hospital in Chennai, India."  From a biologist in Bangladesh who has been working with sea turtles since 1996: "I am very much interested in setting up a hospital in our country." Conversations with them reinforced our beliefs that sea turtles across the planet suffer the same types of injuries and illnesses we see here: "In Argentina we have cases of cold-stunning and ingestion of marine debris." 

Several of our repeat visitors were gratified to see, or more accurately to not see the turtles we were treating at the time of their prior visit. One commented on the remarkable progress of "Snow" who was "just undergoing treatment for the propeller wound to her head. Today she's active, flopping around and greeting guests."

After a morning of in-your-face sea turtles, Rose Peters and her staff of volunteers at The Missiles and More Museum, just a short walk from the hospital, welcomed our visitors. There they had the opportunity to learn that the Topsail area isn't only about the beach. Our part of the coast has seen Native Americans, pirates and an entire industry devoted to the development and perfection of the ramjet engine - "Operation Bumblebee."  After soaking up some history and good old southern hospitality, the group departed with a "goodie bag," including a copy of David Stallman's book Echoes of Topsail.

Finally, our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer presented her power-point look at our Topsail Turtle Project, ending an "exciting day in the sea turtle hospital and with sea turtle lovers" (Bangladesh).

Odds & Ends

Hospital open house: Daily from 2 to 4 p.m., except Wednesday and Sunday. The gift shop is also open during those hours. We close without notice for incoming turtles and dangerous weather conditions, but generally for only a short period of time. Please note that two incorrect phone numbers appear in various places in the "Coaster" magazine: the correct number for reporting turtle activity/ strandings is: (910) 470-2880. The correct number for the hospital is: (910) 328-3377.

Turtle Talks: Every Wednesday, through Labor Day. This one-hour presentation, 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. includes lots of hands-on materials to introduce you to the enigmatic world of sea turtles. Visuals and handouts are appropriate for ages K-adult, and bring your camera to get some great shots of your kids, or yourself. The site is the Surf City Community Center, JH Batts Rd. (off Rt. 210 between Docksider and Gilligan's). 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.

Topsail Turtle Project: Fifty and counting, much better then this time last year. You can keep track of turtle nests on 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 at (910) 470-2880.

Questions, comments or suggestions for stories

Contact me at: flippers@embarqmail.com.

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