Through Georgia Aquarium's 4R Program, we are able to rehabilitate and release loggerhead sea turtles back into their natural habitats. We are also able to provide satellite tagging for turtles, which allows them to be tracked after their release. You can help the Aquarium provide care for animals like Joey and Dylan by donating to the Aquarium's 4R Program. Click here to see how you can help.

Georgia Aquarium Rescues
Five Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Rescued Feburary 2010

The Georgia Aquarium's Dolphin Conservation Field Station (GAI-DCFS) aided in the timely rescue efforts of a group of stranded loggerhead sea turtles from the coast of North Carolina. As ocean water temperatures dropped below 50 degrees during the previous weeks, thousands of sea turtles became stranded in the Southeast. Turtle rehabilitation and rescue facilities all over Florida and the Carolinas were housing rescued turtles, but reached capacity.

The Georgia Aquarium and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center were contacted by overwhelmed facilities to help care for these stranded animals. The GAI-DCFS ambulance drove to the North Carolina/South Carolina border where Aquarium veterinary staff members coordinated the transfer of five turtles from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, who also collaborated with sea turtle rehabilitation facilities in North Carolina and Georgia. The animals, which had a medical status of guarded, were transported to the Aquarium’s quarantine and warehouse facility in Atlanta, where staff were ready to treat and monitor the animals in an effort to save them.
The cold snap that swept the Southeast threatened the lives of an estimated 5,000 turtles; 4,500 in Florida alone. The last comparable cold weather sea turtle stranding was in 2001, which affected 400 turtles. Reports of motionless sea turtle sightings poured in by the hundreds during the previous weeks, prompting the attention of local rescue and rehabilitation centers as well as state departments of natural resources.

See pictures from the turtles' arrival at Georgia Aquarium.



Talbot's Story

Released December 2009

Courtesy of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center

In September 2009, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center received a phone call from a sea turtle volunteer about a stranded loggerhead sea turtle entangled in fishing gear on Amelia Island, FL. Unable to move the turtle, the volunteer went in search of help. By the time she returned, the tide had come in and the turtle was gone.

The following day, the GSTC received a second call about a sea turtle entangled in fishing gear on Talbot Island, one island south of Amelia. It was the same turtle from the day before.

The turtle, named Talbot, was taken to GSTC for immediate treatment. Talbot had thick rope around both shoulders, which had embedded in the skin of the left shoulder exposing muscles and tendons, while the right shoulder had a minor wound. Talbot's right flipper tip also showed indications of dead tissue. The team removed varying amounts of tissue and bone each day until healthy tissue was exposed. Eventually, the team performed surgery to remove all remaining dead tissue and bone. The wound healed remarkably fast and Talbot's appetite increased, and the turtle put on some weight. Talbot's right flipper was also still very functional.

Talbot recovered so well that the GSTC decided to schedule the turtle's release for late December. Talbot was released off Cape Canaveral National Seashore. Before being released, Talbot was fitted with a satellite tag, with help from the Georgia Aquarium, which allows the turtle's movements to be tracked. 

For more information about the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and its programs, visit www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org.
    
Track Talbot

Meet Georgia Aquarium's
Loggerhead Sea Turtles

Joey's Story

Released September 11, 2008

On August 14, 2002, Joey entered the world as a straggler hatchling. Joey was transferred to the Aquarium at Skidaway Institute for Oceanography in Savannah, GA. Joey joined the Georgia Aquarium family on Jan. 16, 2006, joining loggerhead sea turtle Dylan, who was released in June 2008. While at the Georgia Aquarium, Joey gained 88 lbs and grew 8.5 inches in length. During its last physical, the turtle weighed 117 lbs, and its carapace was 31 inches long.

On April 30, 2008, Joey , whose sex is unknown, was transported to the Aquarium's off-site quarantine facility in order to be weaned off human care in preparation for release. After four months of successfully learning the skills needed to return to its native habitat - including identifying and capturing natural prey such as blue crabs, horseshoe crabs and whelks – the time has come for the Georgia Aquarium to say goodbye to Joey.

Biologists from the Georgia Aquarium, in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, released Joey on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 on St. Simons Island, GA. Prior to the release, Joey was fitted with a special satellite transmitter, provided by Georgia Aquarium, which allows Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) researchers and visitors to the GSTC and Georgia Aquarium Web sites the opportunity to monitor Joey's activities and movements. By studying these movements, researchers may be able to document some of the differences between learned and inherited behaviors of sea turtles.

You can help the Aquarium release more sea turtles by donating to our 4R Program! Click here to learn more.

Fun Facts

• It is nearly impossible to know a loggerhead sea turtle's gender until it reaches adulthood, which may take 20 years.
• Approximately 50,000 to 70,000 female loggerheads nest on beaches along the southeastern U.S. coast. More than 90% nest in Florida.
• An adult loggerhead turtle weighs 200-350 lbs and measures about 3 feet in length.
• The female loggerhead drags herself up the beach, digs a hole with her back flippers and deposits 100-125 eggs the size of golf balls.
• The gender of a sea turtle is determined by the tem-perature in the nest: fe-males develop from warmer areas and males from cooler locations.
• After 45 to 60 days, the hatchlings emerge from the nest together and scamper down the beach to the water in the middle of the night.

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