©Vivian Macdonald, 2008.
United States
Ponce Inlet, Florida
A crowd gathers on the beach as the Marine Sciences Center jeep pulls up. The local television crew is here along with a group of visiting journalists.
The jeep parks on the wide, hard-packed beach and we wait and wait. Then the young biologists open the back of the auto, lifting out a large blue plastic bin. Inside is a loggerhead turtle named Coleman. He tries desperately to climb out of the bin, flailing against the sides. Spectators crowd around, cameras clicking.
Finally, two Marine Sciences staff members lift Coleman out of the bin and carry him to the shoreline. Seconds after they place him at the edge of the water he hurries - as fast as a turtle can hurry - toward the Atlantic Ocean and freedom.
As he swims out into the waves, my heart lifts in an unexpected thrill. We all agree: It is a magnificent occasion.
Ponce Inlet, Florida
A crowd gathers on the beach as the Marine Sciences Center jeep pulls up. The local television crew is here along with a group of visiting journalists.
The jeep parks on the wide, hard-packed beach and we wait and wait. Then the young biologists open the back of the auto, lifting out a large blue plastic bin. Inside is a loggerhead turtle named Coleman. He tries desperately to climb out of the bin, flailing against the sides. Spectators crowd around, cameras clicking.
Finally, two Marine Sciences staff members lift Coleman out of the bin and carry him to the shoreline. Seconds after they place him at the edge of the water he hurries - as fast as a turtle can hurry - toward the Atlantic Ocean and freedom.
As he swims out into the waves, my heart lifts in an unexpected thrill. We all agree: It is a magnificent occasion.
It was brought to us by the Marine Science Center of Ponce Inlet about a 30-minute drive south of Daytona Beach. It is a learning centre and an animal hospital, its focus on the rehabilitation of injured or ill sea turtles and birds.
The centre was founded in 2002 as an arm of Volusia County government, explains director Michael Brothers.
“The county was looking for a way to use this property – there is a 55-acre park here that borders the Atlantic Ocean and Ponce Inlet. We have this incredible piece of real estate and (government) said the best we could with this land is to develop an environmental learning centre.
The centre was founded in 2002 as an arm of Volusia County government, explains director Michael Brothers.
“The county was looking for a way to use this property – there is a 55-acre park here that borders the Atlantic Ocean and Ponce Inlet. We have this incredible piece of real estate and (government) said the best we could with this land is to develop an environmental learning centre.
“It was a real case of ‘build it and they will come’ and so we built this place and now we have about 46,000 visitors a year.”
It is the main sea turtle hospital for the entire east coast of Florida. The turtles are injured by boat propellers, or by ingestion of things “that we carelessly throw away” such as plastic bags. “A lot of these turtles eat jelly fish so (the plastic bags) just look like something to munch on,” says Brothers. “The plastic gets in their intestinal system and causes real trouble.”
Sometimes the injury is caused indirectly by shrimpers who throw the so-called by-catch (crab, etc.) into the water, saving only the shrimp. “The sea turtles get behind the boats and they love crabs.… The turtles eat the crabs – whole. Well, if you were to eat 10 or 12 crabs whole, with the shell, you’d be in trouble.” And so are the turtles.
“The problem,” says Brothers, “gets so bad that they can’t eat, they float – the gas causes them to float to the surface – and they can’t get down to get food and they get weaker and weaker and weaker. Eventually, they will wash ashore and then we deal with the problem.”
It is the main sea turtle hospital for the entire east coast of Florida. The turtles are injured by boat propellers, or by ingestion of things “that we carelessly throw away” such as plastic bags. “A lot of these turtles eat jelly fish so (the plastic bags) just look like something to munch on,” says Brothers. “The plastic gets in their intestinal system and causes real trouble.”
Sometimes the injury is caused indirectly by shrimpers who throw the so-called by-catch (crab, etc.) into the water, saving only the shrimp. “The sea turtles get behind the boats and they love crabs.… The turtles eat the crabs – whole. Well, if you were to eat 10 or 12 crabs whole, with the shell, you’d be in trouble.” And so are the turtles.
“The problem,” says Brothers, “gets so bad that they can’t eat, they float – the gas causes them to float to the surface – and they can’t get down to get food and they get weaker and weaker and weaker. Eventually, they will wash ashore and then we deal with the problem.”
When they are well, they return to their natural habitat, as we have seen. But even if you visit on a day when there is no journey to freedom, you can get a close up look at the turtles - small, large and larger - from the observation deck overlooking the hospital. They include the leatherback, which is rare but not considered threatened or endangered, and the loggerhead that is threatened.
The other three species at the centre are the green sea turtle and the hawksbill that are both endangered and the Kemp’s Ridley, the rarest of the sea turtles (at left, laying eggs). All are given names; for example, Scrooge and Ebenezer arrived on the same day.
In addition to human error, as it were, some of the turtles are injured or eaten by sharks – as are humans, though they are not eaten, merely nibbled.
“This area is the shark-bite capital of the world,” says Brothers.
“But that’s only because our beaches are public,” Tangela Boyd comments quickly. She is, after all, the senior publicity manager with the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In addition to human error, as it were, some of the turtles are injured or eaten by sharks – as are humans, though they are not eaten, merely nibbled.
“This area is the shark-bite capital of the world,” says Brothers.
“But that’s only because our beaches are public,” Tangela Boyd comments quickly. She is, after all, the senior publicity manager with the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Nevertheless, Brothers continues with a wry grin: “When you get around the south side of the inlet, there is great, great surfing and it’s a little murky. And you have sharks. The surfers are out there and they’re paddling on their surfboards and (the sharks) see a little flash going through the water and the sharks just go (chomp). They don’t drag the people or eat them. It’s because they think ‘oh, wrong thing’ (i.e. not a fish) and they let go.
"It's not like Jaws."
A short distance from the turtle hospital is the seabird rehabilitation centre where injured pelicans, ibis and owls reside. Some will be sent back to the wild; others must live out their days in cages because they are too badly injured to be on their own – broken wings, missing wings, eye damage.
The Marine Sciences Center is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last entry is at 3.30 p.m. The parking lot is locked at 4 p.m. In addition to the turtle and seabird hospitals, there is a small exhibition hall and, outside, some lovely nature trails. For more information, call 386-304-5545.
All photos are courtesy Jeff M. Crumbley/Volusia County Government (www.volusiaimages.com).
A short distance from the turtle hospital is the seabird rehabilitation centre where injured pelicans, ibis and owls reside. Some will be sent back to the wild; others must live out their days in cages because they are too badly injured to be on their own – broken wings, missing wings, eye damage.
The Marine Sciences Center is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The last entry is at 3.30 p.m. The parking lot is locked at 4 p.m. In addition to the turtle and seabird hospitals, there is a small exhibition hall and, outside, some lovely nature trails. For more information, call 386-304-5545.
All photos are courtesy Jeff M. Crumbley/Volusia County Government (www.volusiaimages.com).