Author: jif-admin

The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) supported a variety of the Jekyll Island Authority’s Georgia Sea Turtle Center (GSTC) activities in Costa Rica. Capacity building in the 3 focus areas of the GSTC – Rehabilitation, Education, and Research – has been a major goal of our work in Costa Rica.

The success of this program was demonstrated on my last trip to Costa Rica where I did a sea turtle rehabilitation workshop hosted by the Parque Marino in Puntarenas Costa Rica. The Parque Marino is an aquarium that does sea turtle rehabilitation and has been the hub of our training programs.

Through the DCF we have been able to support the aquarium on a variety of venues from funding and design assistance for a new exhibit, staff training, workshops, distance learning, and materials and supplies and equipment for their sea turtle rehabilitation program. Additionally, we have built a network of first responders in the Osa Peninsula, a remote but beautiful area in Costa Rica.

Pictured in this image are 3 individuals that we trained at the GSTC and in Costa Rica. Dr. Andres Tello is a wildlife and domestic animal veterinarian who now responds to sea turtle emergencies in the remote Osa Peninsula. Pricilla Howell is from San Jose, Costa Rica and trained with the GSTC as a vet student. She translated Dr. Norton’s lectures during the workshop into Spanish. Phoebe Edge is a conservation biologist who now heads up a new non-profit called Osa Ecology. Phoebe has been instrumental in keeping this program moving forward and trained with us on numerous occasions in Costa Rica and the US.  The turtle viewed in the image is a sick hawksbill sea turtle which was not eating and very thin. Phoebe has a tank at her home that was funded by the DCF so that injured and ill sea turtles can be treated and stabilized before transporting them to the aquarium in Puntarenas.

The Jekyll Island Foundation’s initiative to make one of the island’s oldest roads available for all to experience and enjoy is nearing completion. Major Horton Road connects the Historic Horton House colonial site on the west side of the island to the Horton Pond natural area on the east side of the island.

The road is an unpaved route quite possibly dating back to colonial times when the Horton House was occupied, but first appearing on maps in 1918, during the Jekyll Island Club era. Prior to the Foundation’s initiative, the road had been little maintained and only rarely used for service needs. As such, the road was used by a few adventurous folks in the know, but was overgrown, and not at all oriented toward accommodating or educating visitors.

Working with the JIA Conservation team, the Foundation saw a great opportunity in this project to create connectivity between the Horton House site and the Horton Pond site so that visitors can park in the small lots at either site and experience both, while enjoying a walk in the woods along a historic route between. The trail is 0.7 miles each way between the sites, and ties into the Tupelo Trail loop for another ½ mile, opening up a total of about 2 miles of light hiking in the otherwise relatively inaccessible maritime forest on the North end of Jekyll Island. Adding a visit to Driftwood Beach presents another easily walkable side trip along this route.

The Horton Road Connector Trail project adds to the Foundation’s success with the improvements at Horton Pond, another JIF initiative completed a few years ago that similarly started with a site that left a lot to be desired from the visitor’s perspective and transformed it into a welcoming natural amenity that allows visitors to safely and comfortably experience a unique and beautiful part of Jekyll Island.

We are excited to report that the biggest pieces of the project, pruning the vegetation along the route and resurfacing the trail with crushed limestone, are now complete. The final stages of the project include wayfinding signs and two interpretive panels to be installed in the coming weeks.

Going forward, Major Horton Road will be maintained to match the same standards as the interior unpaved-trail network on the south end of the island. The new trail-surface changes from limestone to mulch as it nears Horton Pond because at this point the trail moves off the original historic road onto land classified as “undeveloped”, and becomes subject to associated conservation protections.

The Foundation’s close partnership with the Jekyll Island Authority is crucial to our success with initiatives such as this. Without the JIAs in-kind contribution of labor to clear and construct the trail, the price tag of the project would have been much higher.

The Second Annual Jekyll Island Book Festival will transform the Beach Village Green into a hub of literary activity on Saturday, April 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

From the Turtle Stage, presenting authors will read from their books, share insights from the writing process, and answer questions from the audience. This year’s presenting authors represent numerous genres from cookbooks and memoires to short fiction, novels, and graphic novels.

Xhenet Aliu’s novel, “Brass,” was published by Random House in January 2018 and is long-listed for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Book Prize. Her debut fiction collection, “Domesticated Wild Things,” won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction.

Taylor Brown, who grew up on the Georgia coast, is the author of one short story collection and three novels. His fourth novel, “The Pride of Eden,” will be published in 2020.

Best known as a former co-host of ABC’s popular lifestyle series “The Chew,” Carla Hall currently appears on ABC’s “GMA DAY” and is the author of three cookbooks. Her most recent is “Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration.” Chef Todd Richards is an award-winning chef known for his contemporary cooking style rooted in soul and Southern cuisine. His book, “SOUL: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes,” was published in 2017. Georgia-born, French-trained Chef Virginia Willis is the author of “Secrets of the Southern Table: A Food Lover’s Tour of the Global South” and a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence winner.

Devereaux Bruch Eyler’s “No Mama, I Didn’t Die: My Life as a Stolen Baby,” is her true story of being stolen and sold to a wealthy family shortly after her birth in 1937, then finding and reconnecting with her biological family at age 71. Steven Nedvidek, Ed Crowell, and Jack Lowe take a true-to-life place — Jekyll Island — and feature it prominently in an alternate history adventure tale. Their award-winning graphic novel series, “The Jekyll Island Chronicles,” imagines action heroes battling anarchists in the early 20th century. In addition to the new Authors’ Alley, an expanded Authors’ Pavilion will host author meet-and-greets and book signings, plus festival merchandise. The Gifts and Books area will showcase authors whose works benefit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and other sea turtle and marine life initiatives. Additional activities include games, activities for children, costumed characters, and the Marshes of Glynn Libraries’ used book sale and pop-up library.

Mosaic Ahead of Schedule

PRESERVATION / EDUCATION

By Bruce Piatek, JIA Director of Historic Resources

The rundown, old and tired, exhibits at the stable building are gone as is the old theater that was a building inside a building. Thanks to the hard work of the Jekyll Island Foundation the Stable building is being transformed and reborn. The work on the structure, such as the installation of the climate control, roof, electrical upgrades, and wallboard are ahead of schedule. The use of foam insulation panels above the roof rafters has preserved the beautiful and dramatic appearance of the interior of the space.  The size, scale, and character of the various spaces within the Stable building are taking shape and will be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The exhibits are moving forward quickly with images and artifacts being identified, acquired and in some cases fabricated.  Historical and natural history concepts and facts are being turned into stories, activities, and experiences for the whole family to enjoy. We have planned the installation of a 1940s Studebaker, a Red Bug ride experience, a 1740s colonial era reproduction sailboat or yawl,  a children’s play scape that will include a trip into a pond and eagles nest, a Native American house and a replica dugout canoe, to name a few. The canoe is being created from a Jekyll Island pine tree, by Bruce Piatek, Director of Historical Resources. There will be a variety of interactive experiences all taking place under a large display screen that will illustrate Jekyll Islands natural beauty.

These are exciting times that are fueled by the hard work and effort of many Jekyll Island staff and contractors. It is all made possible because of the work of the Jekyll Island Foundation and the donors that have supported this transformation. Please take some time to look at a few large-scale pieces that will be the museum and that people will be able to climb in and experience.

Thank you for your past support and please help us continue the work of making the project a major success and new must-see experience on Jekyll Island. For learn more, click here.

Diamondback Terrapin Nesting

CONSERVATION 

By Michelle Kaylor, Rehabilitation Manager

The 2018 Diamondback Terrapin nesting season officially ended on August 2nd.  From the first Terrapin found on April 19th to the last on July 20th, 492 adult female Diamondback Terrapins were encountered on the Jekyll Island Causeway attempting to nest.  Of those 492, 381 individuals were safely worked up and moved off the road– that’s a save rate of about 80 percent!  A total of 173 eggs were collected from females who were unfortunately hit by cars during their attempt to cross the road and placed in our incubators.  We are happy to say that over 117 eggs have already successfully hatched!

The 2018 Diamondback Terrapin Road Season could not have run so smoothly without the support from the Jekyll Island Foundation and its donors.  We were able to purchase a much-needed jump seat for our DBT van. The seat positively influences Diamondback Terrapin road patrols by allowing for another individual to go on road patrols and ride safely in a seat with a seatbelt. We were also able to purchase reflective vest for all our staff on patrol so that they can be safely seen by motorist on and off the roadway.

Sun, Sand, and Sea Turtle Nests

CONSERVATION 

By Breanna Ondich, GSTC Research Specialist

Jekyll Island is one of only two remaining islands in the state of Georgia that continues to patrol its beaches at night in search of nesting sea turtle. All in all, the patrol team encountered 46 different sea turtle moms depositing their precious eggs beneath the earth. Jekyll Island’s grand total was 121 nests, roughly seven percent of Georgia’s 1,741 total nests. All of the nests on our beaches were deposited by Loggerhead Sea Turtles, while a few other islands had some visiting Green Sea Turtles, and one Kemp’s Ridley. Another sandy summer has gone by and ~8,200 hatchling sea turtles have crawled out to sea.

It was as long ago as 1958 that the very first loggerhead sea turtle was tagged while nesting on Jekyll Island, and we have since compiled a huge list of all of our sea turtle mothers. Of the 46 sea turtles we were able to catch this summer, we know that 22 of those were returning to Jekyll Island from a previous summer and 24 of them were untagged and were encountered by researchers for the very first time on Jekyll. If you include knowledge gained by partnering with the Northern Recovery Unit Loggerhead DNA Project (University of Georgia), loggerhead sea turtles lay an average of four nests each summer that they nest. This summer, three different turtles – “Newman,” “Dr. Shelly MacCaretta: Chelonian Ambassador to the Sea,” and “Adelaide”– went above average and tied for having the most nests on Jekyll Island in 2018 with six nests each!

Tagging sea turtles and managing nests is important, but so are our education efforts. Thanks to the generous support of the Jekyll Island Foundation and its donors, we were able to continue our very popular Ride with Patrol program, which allows up to four guests at a time to ride along with us in the utility task vehicles and get a first-hand look of what it’s like to be a sea turtle biologist. At least 182 people participated in the program this year, and we spoke to 1,570 additional people on the beach during our Turtle Walk and Sunrise Walk eco-tour programs. Twenty-two of our nests were sponsored by 48 parents in our Nest Trackers program. Beyond our regularly scheduled programs, our patrol team educated over 3,098 additional people incidentally on the beach about sea turtles and intercepted 1,198 people with white lights to hand out red cellophane to turn those lights into red turtle-friendly lights instead.

As the oldest and largest research project on Jekyll Island, none of this would be possible without the support of all of our collaborators: The Jekyll Island Authority – Georgia Sea Turtle Center, AmeriCorps, The Jekyll Island Foundation, The University of Georgia, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Thank you for another successful nesting season here on Jekyll Island!

Turtles Get New Digital X-ray System 

CONSERVATION 

By Dr. Terry Norton, Director and Veterinarian

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center receives hundreds of injured and ill wildlife patients each year. Patients treated at the GSTC include sea turtles, diamondback terrapins, native freshwater and land turtles, alligators, snakes, and birds. Since opening its doors in 2007, the GSTC has successfully treated and released over 2,500 animals.

A wide range of problems are encountered in the wildlife received including hit by boat, hit by car, fishing line and hook injuries, starvation, buoyancy issues, and many more. Diagnostic testing is performed to figure out what the problem might be in a particular patient and may include blood work, radiographs or X-rays, endoscopy and even CT scans.  X-rays are something we typically do on each patient upon entry and often several times during the rehabilitation process. A digital X-ray unit was purchased in 2007 when the GSTC opened its doors. Digital X-ray technology has improved dramatically during this time and the older machine was no longer state of the art and needed to be replaced. Thankfully through the generous donations from the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. LLC, Tybee Island Marine Science Center, and others we were able to purchase a new digital X-ray unit from Vet Rocket. The X-rays taken with this unit have superior resolution and a much more efficient storage capability. Additionally, it is much easier and quicker to take X-rays.  In a very short period of time we have taken hundreds of X-rays with the new unit.

We would like to thank our donors and the Jekyll Island Foundation for the purchase of this amazing technology.

Hollybourne Cottage Structural Repairs

PRESERVATION 

By Bruce PIatek, JIA Director of Historic Resources

Ken Smith Architects and Fourth Street Design and Restoration did a wonderful job of restoration of the Hollybourne Cottage. This is one of the most iconic buildings in the National Historic Landmark District. The building was at risk of structural failure and partial collapse. The most at risk part of the structure was the parapets along the roof line. These poured tabby elements were never connected to the internal wooden structure of the building. Furthermore, the rusting of the steel lintels, or supports, over the window and door openings had caused rust jacking that broke the adhesive bond between the tabby courses. The result was that the parapets and sections of the exterior tabby walls were only held in place by gravity. In some places the rust jacking was so bad that one half to three quarter inch cracks existed under the parapets and daylight could be seen through these cracks.  Hollybourne was literally falling apart.

Once I realized the scope of the problem, I called in Ken Smith, one of the only architects that have worked on large pour tabby buildings like Hollybourne. Ken had experience working on Henry Flagler buildings in St. Augustine that were built about the same time and with the same materials. Ken and Structural Engineer Jude Kostage developed the approach to support the tabby walls while the support lintels were removed and new support components were installed. Fourth Street Design and Restoration executed the plans which also included connecting exterior walls at the parapets to the interior wooden structure of the building. There work was outstanding and they showed a passion for doing a good job and getting it done right. There was risk involved in the work. A failure of a temporary support over a window or door opening could have brought down a section of the exterior wall.

The Jekyll Island Foundation’s generous donors helped to defray the cost of the architectural and engineering services that were the key element in the success of this important restoration project.  Donor’s contributions helped to insure that Hollybourne Cottage will remain a spectacular architectural example and important historic asset in our National Historic Landmark District for years to come.

Wilson’s Plover Nesting

CONSERVATION 

By Yank Moore, JIA Conservation Land Manager

This year was a tempestuous season for Jekyll Island’s Wilson’s Plovers with record highs and lows. This season the JIA Conservation Staff identified a Jekyll-record 34 Wilson’s Plover nests. After a rough beginning to the season where fish crows moved in and depredated more than 10 nests, we made the decision to remove all camera monitoring equipment to reduce the chance of attracting more attention by fish crows. After a couple more weeks of the crows hanging around, they finally moved away from the beaches and the plovers began a resurgence to ensure a successful season. Nine of the last 10 nests laid on the beach survived the full incubation period of 25-32 days and hatched a total of more than 26 chicks. We banded 16 of those with 9 of those surviving to fledging (first flight) along with 3 other non-banded chicks. We are hopeful for a return to Jekyll by some of these birds once they become adults and begin to nest on their own.

The nesting habitat was ideal again this year with more expansive open-dune habitat with low rolling dunes with sparse vegetation created by the high tides and storm surge from Hurricane Irma last Fall. With the benefit of good habitat and stewardship, we have seen the population of Wilson’s Plover grow in the number of adult nesting pairs over the last 3 years.  With enduring help from the Jekyll Island Foundation, we will continue to monitor our small nesting population again next year, hoping for another record breaking year on Jekyll. Always remember, if you enjoy Jekyll’s beach with your dog (or cat!), never allow them to chase birds, keep them on a leash, and respect the “no pets” area on the south end of the island. These rules are in place to keep Jekyll’s beach a haven for birds like the Wilson’s Plovers that may be one day be lost if not for our careful stewardship.