SEA TURTLE RETIRING TO THE DESERT

Photo of sweet Gabby taken from the Jekyll Island blog. http://www.jekyllisland.com/2013/09/from-sea-to-desert-georgia-sea-turtle-center-transitions-patient-to-utah-facility/


A favorite of ours at the Turtle Center on Jekyll Island is saying her final farewells to visitors and staff as she prepares for a new life.

No, she won't be striking out into the ocean; she's going to Utah.

Gabriella, a five-year-old loggerhead sea turtle, came to the center in 2008 and was treated for various ailments. After paying for her medical care by going to Athens GA and educating inland people about loggerheads, Gabby came back to the center to be prepared for release.

Unfortunately, doctors found she has a spinal deformity that makes her bottom float higher than her top. Weight therapy and other treatments haven't helped. If she's released into the wild, she probably won't make it.

So the center has found her a permanent home: The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, Utah.

A long ways from the beach!

Bye bye, Gabby! Hope you enjoy Utah. You've given us a lot of pleasure in the past years.

POOR TURTLE

I was driving, following my guy in his car loaded with stuff we're bringing from the condo to the house. About a seven hour trip, and we were maybe half way through it.

When he slowed, so did I. Then I saw a woman in shorts walking down alongside the road in knee-high grass. I immediately thought 'kid run away' but no little tykes in the road so I kept watching the roadside. Just as I got to her, she started up the bank to the road, and I felt a  thump.

Yep. I ran over the turtle she was trying to rescue. I feel guilty and sad but it's done. I am a murderer. Murderess.

Not a good day.