30 Fingers, 30 Toes... : Sea Turtle Release, SBL #4

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Sea Turtle Release, SBL #4

I've been dying to take the boys to a Sea Turtle Release since we moved back to this coast 3 years ago now. We lived close to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center when we lived in GA, we aren't super far from it now even though we've crossed the state line into FL. The GSTC rehabilitates injured or sick sea turtles & also educates people about them & their environment. We took the boys when they were barely a year old & I've been trying to catch a release since then. They do not announce the releases early as they don't want to draw a huge crowd, so it's usually the night before a morning release or the morning of an afternoon release. Tricky when you've got toddlers to work with, not as tricky with preschool aged children :)

So tuesday night just as I was about to log of fb & go to bed I got a notification from a local page I follow, it was a post that there would be 3 sea turtles released the next morning at Main Beach at 10am. WooHoo, that was totally doable for the boys & I and the boys have been asking to go to the beach, so a win win!

Garren was very into seeing the turtles, he wanted to pet them & "hold them in his hand." lol. Caden & Kellan were just stoked to go to the beach! We happened to pull up behind the turtle transport van at a light just as we got onto the island & followed them the rest of the way. There were a good amount of spectators already on the beach, mostly retirees since kids were in school. There were a couple people from the Sea Turtle Center telling people about the turtles & law enforcement explaining how the release would happen, where to stand & warning not to get into the turtles path.

"Turtle Road" going to the water

view from the water

the boys collecting sea shells & sharing with another kid

I think the boys might have been just as much a spectacle as the turtles

GIANT bubbles!!!

sea turtle #1

sea turtle #2

so beautiful!

sea turtle #3

I absolutely adore these creatures!

Once they release the turtles they wait to see them flap a fin to make sure they are going the right direction, it's hard to catch it in the video but this is how it went down, one turtle at a time :)