Hello! My name is Sarah Ireland and this summer I was fortunate enough to get to spend a month on the island of Tybee in Savanah Georgia studying marine biology. I have now been here for just under two weeks and have learned more than I ever thought possible.
This was my set up for our shell rehab!
This week I have taken more independence in taking care of the animals, while also learning how to help run a sea camp full of kiddos. Wednesdays at the center are dedicated to feeding and taking care of the animals as well as their tanks. I started off the day by feeding all of the animals almost entirely on my own. Our two box turtles Zelda and Charlie get a special meal that we pre-pair in our kitchen that consists of dog food, frozen veggies and fruit, two meal worms, and a special calcium powder to keep them healthy. We measure our their good in grams to make sure they are getting everything they need. After feeding those guys I also got to do their shell therapy. This consists of rubbing special lotion onto their shells to help it stay strong and healthy. Next, it came time for the baby DBT and yellow bellied turtles to get their food and treatment. After feeding all of the babies, I did their shell treatment / rehab. To do this I would start by drying off the turtle and gently rubbing its shell with a betaine solution to help wash away any gook left. After that dried I would rub on a calamine lotion onto their shells. I did this to 14 of the baby turtles before returning them to their enclosures. Before we could return them, their tanks needed to be cleaned. I took apart, cleaned, and put back together 6 different pumps and tanks! This was really difficult because of all the moving pieces that went into the pump and because of how small they were. I had a lot of people helping me along the way and teaching me everything I needed to know! Thursday the center opened to the public for the first time this week and we were slammed all day! I spent most of my day behind the tank with Ike teaching everyone about him and what a cool guy he is! I also got to take Ike outside to get some fresh sun and eat his food for the day. 
This Friday, I got to help run the sea camp for kiddos who want to learn about our oceans and animals too. This was new and exciting because I got to go to the marsh and find a bunch of animals as well as go out in a boat to look for dolphins in their natural habitat. Luck for us, we got to see a bunch of dolphins and even some babies, which apparently doesn’t happen all that often! I am continuing to learn more than I thought possible with the amazing people I work with and cant wait to see what I learn in these next two weeks!
This is one of the many beautiful buildings I saw in historic Savanah!
Out side of my internship, I have also had a ton of really cool experiences! Zelda and sheldon took me all around historic Savanah which is chocked full of beautiful historic building and hidden gems. I got to take a walk along the Savanah river and see all of the shipping containers which are a huge part of Savanah’s economic success. I also got to go to a pediatric neurologist and follow around some doctors and nurses for the day to get a taste as to what it is like to be a nurse in a real office. This was an incredibly opportunity, only possible because of the amazing Zelda, and even got to met with and work with a few of the younger patients! I learned a ton with those incredibly doctors and nurses and had a whole lot of fun doing it! That is all the updating I have for now, and heres to another amazing week!
Sounds like you are very blessed to have this opportunity. A huge thank you to Pinhead , Zelda and Sheldon. Great pictures!!! Can’t wait to read more next week d