Category: For the Record

By David Steen, GSTC Research Ecologist

The waters off Jekyll Island will soon be full of giant marine reptiles. We expect the Loggerhead Sea Turtles in our region to begin crawling onto our beaches in May to lay their nests, something they can do up to eight or nine times in a season. These animals have lived for decades, are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and are some of the biggest and most charismatic animals in the world. You might think that there is little left to learn about them but what do we really know? Most sea turtles probably live their lives without ever bumping into a human being, although with a little luck maybe you’ll see one poking its head out of the water to breathe while you’re boating or fishing around the Golden Isles. If you’re strolling along the right stretch of beach during a summer night, you just might cross paths with a sea turtle; after they hatch, it’s the only time in their lives they will be on land. These moments on the beach with a sea turtle are just a brief blip in time for these long-lived creatures, but they represent our best chance to collect data that allows us to learn more about their biology, their health, and their conservation.

Studying the Loggerhead Sea Turtles that nest on Jekyll Island is the responsibility of the Research Department of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and each spring we are proud to extend this project, one of the longest-term studies of its kind, by another year. With many miles of beach and only about 120 nests each year, we have to cover a lot of ground to maximize our chances of finding a turtle before it finishes nesting and disappears into the sea. And that is where our beach utility-terrain-vehicles (UTV) come in; our UTVs allow us to safely and efficiently patrol thousands of miles of beach each year and generate the information we need to help conserve sea turtles. This year we will be taking blood samples to assess levels of endocrine disruptors, examining carapaces for evidence of injuries from boats and fishing gear, and taking skin biopsies that allow our collaborators to identify turtles by their DNA. There are only a couple programs north of Florida that work with adult Loggerhead Sea Turtles and that is because it is demanding work that requires significant support. What makes us unique, and what affords us the opportunity to continue this program, is the generous support of The Jekyll Island Foundation. Come on out with us!

For years the Ross family gave gifts to our six children and 14 grandchildren.  In the months leading up to Christmas 2017, my wife, Queenie and I were discussing our thoughts for the upcoming season of giving.   We have been very blessed and so have our children and their children.  What can we give them that they could take throughout their life?  As we thought about it, we could not come up with a single item that they really needed. 

Almost at the same moment an idea struck both of us: let’s make this a teaching moment – a moment and a lesson that they can use throughout their lives.  Let’s give them the gift of giving back – the gift of charity.  After all, God teaches us that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

We decided to give each of our grandchildren an assignment: find a nonprofit organization that you would like to support and write a one-page essay on that organization to include 1) what the organization does (the mission), 2) why this is important and 3) how the donation would help the nonprofit fulfill its mission.  If possible, each one may include a statement of what he or she plans to do to help in other ways, i.e., volunteer at the facility. The nonprofit must be a 501(c)3 designated charity to qualify. 

On Christmas Eve, around our dinner table, each grandchild is asked to present his or her essay.  It is amazing the variety of nonprofit organizations that have been selected – from Ducks Unlimited to Missionaries of the Poor. 

Our youngest grandchild, Tabitha Hooge, who during the initial year (2017) was only 4 years old, had heard me talk about the Jekyll Island Foundation (JIF) and the work we were doing to save the lives of sea turtles up and down the Atlantic Coast line.  On her own (since she could not yet write) she drew a large turtle.  When it was her turn to present, she stood up and said with conviction, “I want to donate to the turtle hospital at Jekyll Island.  There are so many turtles that are hurt by nets and boats.”  Thus, a donation was made to JIF that was restricted to be used at the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.

During the summer of 2018, Tabitha’s parents took she and her sister Aurelia to visit Jekyll and of course the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.  Tabitha insisted on buying a stuffed turtle that she has since named Ocean.  She sleeps with that turtle each night.   

This past Christmas, our second year for the program, Tabitha again selected the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center as her charity.  When she presented her essay, which again was using her drawing skills, she said “I want to again donate to the [Georgia Sea] Turtle Center.  I love turtles!  Some day I am going to work at the turtle hospital.”  And I believe she will.

Giving back is indeed a gift that keeps on giving.  We encourage you to consider this teaching moment and give-back opportunity.  And as a seven-year member of the JIF Board, I believe a gift to the Jekyll Island Foundation should be considered.  It is doing incredible work in helping to preserve our history, conserve our natural resources, and educate our visitors on the importance of our barrier islands.

Contractors and staff are working hard on the Mosaic Museum. Jekyll Island Authority staff from various departments – Historic Resources, Conservation, Facilities, and Landscaping – are finalizing the building and its contents.  

Providing oversight, the historic resources staff is currently working to finalize the information and graphic panels, advising on exhibits, locating and installing the artifacts, and obtaining the hundreds of items needed to bring this new island amenity to life. From purchasing seating for the classroom space – called the Tack Room – to dressing mannequins in Club Era clothing, they do it all. Sound and video components have been installed and tested, and staff are training in how to use it.

It is VERY exciting to see the space developing. There is still a great deal of work ahead as we move closer to the opening date. This project is nothing short of a complete metamorphosis of the old stables, museum, and gift shop, into a dynamic, interactive, and exciting environment in which people will learn about and experience more of Jekyll Island.

Like its name – Mosaic – small pieces are being built and installed to make a complete picture of Jekyll Island, its nature, history, and culture.  Mosaic, the Museum of Jekyll Island – will be unveiled to the public on Saturday, April 27, 2019.

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!