Arriving at an unreasonably early hour, yet still late by the sea turtles' clocks, we realized that the volunteers had all beaten us to the facility. We entered the food room and were met with the sight of rows and rows of food bowls filled with chopped up fish and squids. The volunteers greeted us with excited energy, telling us how they had been preparing food since 6am.
All throughout the day, if there was one thing that stuck out, it was the unfailing exuberance and enthusiasm seen in the volunteers. Every volunteer that we had the privilege to meet and work with had a drive and passion that we couldn't help but appreciate. In reflection, we all recognized how their drive had reignited our own.
But, for the real highlights of the day...
We got to--
WASH and TREAT the sea turtles: both Odyssey, and Beacon
FEED the sea turtles
**Green sea turtles eat a diet composed of mostly meat when young, but as they age, they become omnivores, and eat a lot of veggies. This was especially true of one sea turtle, I.C., who ate every veggie we threw him!
SWAB the deck
(A bit too hard, too, since all of our mops broke repeatedly)
The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center was established in honor of Jean Beasley's daughter, Karen, who passed away. The center has grown immensely since it was first created, and now houses over 50 sea turtles in need of help. We were given a tour today of this amazing facility, which has its own surgery room, radiology room, and is responsible for its own water purification.
The center is open to the public for a tour in April; with an absolutely wonderful set of staff, and even better facility, one would be missing out if they didn't take advantage of this opportunity. Besides, I hear the sea turtles love the attention.
http://www.seaturtlehospital.org/
--Brianne and Gabrielle
No comments:
Post a Comment