Deep Down, We Are All Essentially Turtles.

Day 3 started very gloomily with the skies being dark and cloudly. We left the house at 7:15 A.M. as it was pouring down rain. However, when we arrived at the Turtle Hospital, we immediately felt our day brighten up! The volunteers were welcoming as always, although unfortunately the turtles seemed agitated by the incoming thunderstorms. 

Both of us were assigned to work at Turtle Bay today since we both had a chance to work in Sick Bay in prior days. We are starting to become accustomed to the routine - at 8 A.M. we were ready to feed the turtles, of course feeding the pills first and making sure stray food did not clog the pipes. After feeding, we were responsible for cleaning the tanks by scrubbing the tanks (and the turtles!) and making sure the tanks were sanitized using a Clorox towel. Afterward, we went outside to clean the fishy and stinky nets and buckets used in Turtle Bay and Sick Bay - once we were done with them, they smelled good as new! We luckily also got to clean the smaller Green Turtles in Turtle Bay today, similar to what we did in Sick Bay. First, we scrub and dry them. Next, we disinfect them with betadine and waited a couple minutes for good measure before putting them back into their tanks. We ended the day at the Turtle Hospital by taking a group picture outside as the clouds cleared up and the sun came out.



Next up, we went to University of North Carolina at Wilmington where we were able to see a necropsy of a Green Turtle that was a victim of a boat strike during the Summer of 2017. It was super educational. In general, the turtle's anatomy is strikingly similar to ours - but there was one awesome feature. Believe it or not, the turtle's esophagus was lined with hedgehog-like spines that help it keep food in while expelling out the excess seawater it ingests while eating!



Since the necropsy only lasted an hour, we had a lot of time in the afternoon ourselves. So, of course, once we got back to the house we decided to go down to the beach! There, we took a lot of pictures and found a couple of nice shells (and shark teeth!). I (Nelson) took some aesthetic shots and drew "Terps Helping Turtles" on the beach and left our mark. I (Sherry) hunted eagerly for shark teeth and pretty pebbles - now I am the proud owner of several tiny fossilized shark teeth (shoutout to Donald for showing me the prime spots to find them!) 

 



One more exciting day has raced past, but looking forward to the Raptor Center tomorrow!


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