As I get ready for my Costa Rica seat turtle research my family decided to go to a Sea Turtle Conservation center in Georgia. The center/museum is filled with all sorts of interesting facts and games regarding sea turtles. The center talks about all types of turtles, not just the ones found in Georgia. When you enter there is a really cool gift shop where we got some stickers. I believe all of the money spent there goes towards helping the turtle rehabilitation center. After checking out the gift shop we entered the museum room. In this room we got a sneak peek into the turtle rehabilitation room. We saw the doctors working on a turtle whose shell got damaged from a boat. After learning all about the different types of turtles from the museum room we went into the physical rehabilitation center. When we walked in there were 8 circular pools, each housing a different turtle. Each turtle in the pools were rescued because they were either injured or sick. One of the workers taught us all about the rehabilitation center and also shared some cool facts about turtles. We learned that nearly 75% of turtle injuries are caused by anthropogenic activities. This was sad to hear, but also made me more motivated to work very hard when I go to Costa Rica at the end of the month. My favorite part of the rehabilitation center was the baby turtle area. We saw a tank filled with 5 baby turtles that could each fit into my palm. I had never seen turtles this small and they were adorable. Here are some photos from our visit:
Visiting the Georgia Turtle Center was such an amazing experience and I cannot wait to dive more into the realm of turtle conservation when I go to Costa Rica. Talking to all of the workers at the center was very inspiring because they were all so passionate about helping each turtle. When I was younger I would always get so excited when I would see turtles while snorkeling or diving, so now I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be able to help conserve their amazing species!
