Hello! My name is Sarah Ireland and this summer I am spending a month at the Tybee Island Marine Center located near Savanah Georgia. My time here will be spent learning about the animals at the center, how to take care of and feed them, along with teaching the public about the animals in the facility.
This is me and Maize, our permanent resident corn snake! She is super sweet and one of my favorite animals at the center!
One my first day, I got to learn how to feed all the animals in the center including two baby alligators, a loggerhead sea turtle, horse shoe crab, stingray, and countless other animals! It was incredible to see how different each animal is in terms of it’s diet, the way they are fed, and their overall personalities. On the first day the center was open to the public, I jumped right into the deep end and absorbed a ton on information! Starting behind the touch tank I learned about each of the animals currently in the tank, how to handle them, and the proceeded to teach the public about the animals as they came into the center. This was especially challenging because of how much information there was to learn in such a short time, but it was really fun to share everything I had learned with all of the people around me! As the week carried on, we got an injured pelican that was brought into the center and we helped to take care of him before we could get him to the proper facility. This was a really cool thing to see because I had no clue what would go into taking care of an animal like that! Throughout the week, I started to branch out into the floor of the center to learn more about each of the other animals. By the end of the week I knew enough about our baby loggerhead sea turtle Ike, to be able to teach the public about him. Ike is nine months old and is by far my favorite animal at the center. I have had the privilege of following around amazing educators at the center all week to learn about Ike and all his quirks! Every day we give Ike a turtle brownie full of vitamins, veggies, and other goodies to help him grow before we release him in about two years time! Ike will stay at the center until he is three years old, at which time he will be released back into the ocean to live his life. While hanging out with him, I also learned that Ike really likes attention and doesn’t mind everyone coming over to admire him! Ike came to us from his nest where he had been left behind. He is now part of the head start program which helps give turtles a better chance of surviving on their own. Only 1 out of every 4,000 sea turtles reaches adulthood because of challenges like plastic and other pollutants in the water, as well as large predators that easily pick them off. When Ike leaves the center he will be the same size if not bigger than a dinner plate! Because he is a reptile, he is born with natural instincts that will tell him how to survive once he is own his own. I am looking forward to seeing Ike grow over this next month! I still have tons of animals to learn about and sea camps to help out in as well in the upcoming weeks at the center and I couldn’t be more excited!
This is Blue and I on one of our many floor visits!
Outside of my internship, I have been exploring the amazing island of Tybee full of life, excitement, and insanity! After first arriving in Tybee, I was caught in the middle of a tropical storm, which to say the least, was exciting! After raining for hours, the island felt very quite and at peace. Just before the storm I got to go to the top of a lighthouse which was breathtaking and really put Tybee into perspective. The next day I got to bike around the island and get a feel for the place I am currently calling home. Every evening I get to come home to my new best friend Blue! We hang out every night and usually take a little walk together. That is all the updates I have so far, and would like to say thank you to the whole pinhead team and my incredible host family Zelda and Sheldon!
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