I had a really magnificent third week here at Tybee Island. There is so much to learn and do! This week I only worked 4 days, and get this, it wasn’t the Fourth I had off. Each day I worked, I was in the Husbandry with Chantal in the morning and assisted with Sea Camp in the afternoon. It was a pretty exciting week at the Center. Monday, I helped make Sea Turtle gel, which is what they feed Matthew. It is a gelatin blend of vegetables, fish and squid, and different vitamins. Then during Sea Camp, there was only one set of siblings and when we went to the pier, a pretty good sized shark was caught. On the Fourth, Chantal started teaching me about water quality and the different fixes you could use and at that time, an educator almost flooded the water room, which apparently happens all the time. We also painted some sand dollars for the occasion.
Friday may have been one of the best days. It was reptile weighing day in the husbandry, so we got out all the reptiles and weighed them and gave them some exercise, except Matthew. Also, Chantal is a huge soccer fan, so we were streaming the World Cup game. In the afternoon at Sea Camp, we went to the Marsh at low tide. We caught some Fiddler Crabs and saw a Blue Crab and a camper and Tori, the counselor, sank into the mud. It was pretty funny.
Tori and the Camper in the mud
What I did when I wasn’t working was just as great! On Tuesday, I had the chance to get a behind the scenes tour of the South Carolina Aquarium and Sea Turtle Hospital in South Carolina, it was amazing! We were taken through the bottom part of the Turtle Hospital, usually closed to visitors, we went up and fed The Great Ocean tank, and we explored the rest of the aquarium (I also tried a hurricane simulator). It was really interesting and learned a lot about what causes of turtle endangerment are. A lot had boat strikes, shark bites, and Debilitating Skin Disease and what the center does to help. They also had a Harry Potter themed naming going on, with names like Hermione, Voldemort, and Luna. That is a really wonderful place!
Another exciting part of my week was Friday night when I got to meet Cathy Sakas and go watch Chasing Coral. Cathy is a renowned Marine Biologist and Environmentalist that has done many great things throughout her career. She came over for appetizers before she introduced the film at the Tybee Post Theater. She had lots of stories and tips that really inspired me. Then we went to watch the documentary and for those that haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It is the story of a group that is trying to show the Coral Bleaching events and it really opens our eyes to the problems we have created.
Cathy and I
Exciting week, but I’m still not done yet. I was staying with a different host family this week, the Tenenbaums. Just for week when they Grays had visitors for the holidays. It was a good change of scenery, they live on the back river between Tybee and Little Tybee. I was able to go swimming every day of the week and today, Zelda and I took a few hours and kayaked to and around Little Tybee. There was so much ocean and swimming time this week! They also have a dog, named Bleu, that slept with me all week,which was fantastic! Of course we also went and watched the Tybee Island fireworks!
It is hard to think that I am halfway through the internship! There is still so much to do, learn, explore. It is a wonderful opportunity for me!
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