Topsail Beach, NC - The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

Sea Turtle Hospital News

Summer Interns - can’t live without ‘em!
If you’re planning to come to our open house, or if you’ve already been here you’ll notice a slightly (just slightly) younger crew of additional volunteers. That’s because right around the time of our release our college “summer help” is already entrenched in our intern house and beginning to learn the ropes, and the nets, and the water system and the tricky diets and the even trickier treatments at the hospital. Over the next few weeks you’ll get a chance to learn about the not-so-secret lives of the gals and guys who give us “regulars” a little break for twelve weeks. You’ll see them mainly at the tanks, relaying the stories of the five turtles on the tour. Be sure to say “hey” and come armed with lots of turtle questions.

Spotlight on Caitlin Cavanaugh
Even though this Pittsburgh native was surrounded by “three rivers” while she was growing up it never quite satisfied her longing to live and work near the water. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Animal Science Caitlin made her move south, pursuing a career in veterinary medicine and inching closer to the beach. She’s just completed her first year at NC State College of Veterinary Medicine and met her first sea turtle when she came with Dr. Harm’s students to do pre-release physicals. She’s always loved turtles, but tells me that the up-close encounter left her “fascinated.” And since she expects to graduate with a concentration in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine - well - sea turtles certainly qualify as wild!

Photo: Caitlin checks on “Hammocks” progress

Caitlin knew that her 5-1/2 day work week would be physically demanding: long hours in the North Carolina summer heat, almost two-dozen patients in the early stages of rehabilitation, standing at the tank and talking non-stop for hours during open house, being on-call for turtle and system emergencies and “other duties as assigned.” But because she had completed her undergraduate degree, plus a year in vet school her main concern was that her fellow interns would confer “old lady intern” status on her. It only took about ten minutes of living in the house to dispel that fear. This year’s group is always happy, they genuinely like each other and I haven’t heard anybody refer to her as ancient.

As a vet student it’s no surprise that Caitlin is “really into medical procedures.” She especially appreciates, but never expected the extensive amount of time she has to “hang out” with Jean, our director and turtle Mom.  She’s always the one hovering over me when I’m in a turtle tank cleaning out wounds and giving patients their “manicures,” asking me what I’m doing, and why. Most exciting to her is the “awesome success” we have in the rehabilitation of our turtles, and the night that she saw her first nesting mama. (And she want you to know that her photo was taken after she’d been up until 2 AM watching that turtle nest.)

Caitlin spends her free time poring over all the sea turtle biology information she can get her hands on, and there’s lots of it at the intern house. But she stresses that she’s not only about books, she likes to have fun, especially at the beach. Her advice to anyone contemplating our internship is: “if this is something you think you want to do go for it, you never know where you’ll end up.” For her, it’s living at the beach, making sick turtles better: and “what could be bad about that?”

We hate when this happens
Last week we got word that one of our June releases, little Green “Lockwood” was found dead in the ICW near Wrightsville Beach, a victim of a boat/propeller strike. We understand and accept natural predation, but it breaks our heart to see the damage that was done to this little creature that we grew to love during the year he was under our care. When we release them we really hope that they go on to live long, happy turtle lives. RIP little guy.

Beachcombers Wanted
If you’re one of those lucky people who seems to spot a couple of sharks teeth every time you walk along the beach we need your help. We have quite a few children’s camps visit during the summer, kids who may have never seen the ocean before, and we like to send them home with a little reminder of the wonderful gifts from our sea. They LOVE those prehistoric shark’s teeth! If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt but don’t know what to do with that handful of dentition please drop them off at our hospital anytime between 8 AM and 5 PM during our open house days, or before noon on Wednesday and Sunday. You’ll make some kids very, very happy.

Come see us
We’ve got five turtles on our tour, and they all have very different personalities and stories to tell. Visiting hours are from 2-4 PM daily, EXCEPT Wednesday and Sunday. Lines can be long, so come prepared with sunscreen and umbrellas for shade. Be sure to browse our gift shop and pick up a few T-shirts and other turtle items, many exclusive to our hospital. And please be generous with your donations; we still need another $350,000 to erect our new building. We hope that we don’t have to repeat the Winter of ‘08-09 when we had forty-eight turtles under our care, and had to turn away others because we just didn’t have another inch of floor space. We desperately need this new facility and depend on “the kindness of strangers” who believe in our mission - you.

Do “turtles talk?”
Find out at the Surf City Community Center. Turtle Talks is a great way to learn about these majestic creatures, with plenty of handouts and hands-on activities for every age. The program is free and is held every Wednesday from 3:45 - 4:45 PM, through Labor Day. Bring your camera, and donations for our turtles are gratefully accepted.

Topsail Turtle Project
Thirty-three nests and counting. You can check our website for daily updates: www.seaturtlehospital.org. The nesting season continues through August, so please be on the lookout for nesting, injured or stranded turtles. And remember that these are federally protected animals. Harassing or interfering with them in any way is punishable by a hefty fine and/or imprisonment. Please report any incidents of nesting, injury, stranding or harassment to our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at 910-470-2880 immediately.

Questions, comments or suggestions for stories
Contact me at: flippers@embarqmail.com.