Sea Turtle Preservation Society Meeting

The Sea Turtle Preservation Society was an active participant during the recent cold stun event, and this month's meeting on Thurday night, February 4, will focus on the experience. Here's your invitation to the meeting, courtesy of Flipper Flash:

On Thursday, February 4, you are invited to attend the STPS General Membership Meeting to be held at the Melbourne Beach Community Center. The theme for the evening is the timely topic of the January 2010 Sea Turtle Cold Stun Event. Beginning at 7:00 PM, refreshments will be served as a series of photographs highlighting the Cold Stun Event in the area is displayed. The photos are courtesy of Ursula Dubrick. Our program begins at 7:30 PM, with the following speakers and topics.

1. Mike Splitt – The Meteorological Explanation for a Cold Stun Event (10 minutes). Mike is a Meteorology Professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, and he will discuss the evolution of the deep freeze and some historic perspective.

2. Karrie Minch - The Cold Stun Event from the State's Perspective (45 minutes). Karrie is the Wildlife Technician, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network, Indian River Field Lab. Her presentation includes: a. What is a cold stun event, b. What effect did it have on the sea turtles, and c. Description of statewide cold stun efforts.

3. Roger Pszonowski - The Role of the STPS Stranding Team from Rescue to Release (15 minutes). Roger is the new STPS Stranding Team Coordinator.

4. Unique stories about the event (15 minutes) from STPS Stranding Team members: a. Beth Stuckey - Boating Rescue, and b. Cindy Dolaway - Water Rescue Video

5. Questions and Answers

This event is free and open to the public.

After the cold

Florida's weather is getting back to normal, after a week of record-breaking temperatures that affected people and critters alike (although like the rest of you, I feel guilty complaining about ANYTHING when I read of the devestation in Haiti). When last I wrote, the sea turtle rescue effort was just getting started, and I spoke in terms of a couple of hundred - turns out that some 4,000+ sea turtles were rescued in the state, and the majority were from Volusia and Brevard counties. It was a herculean rescue effort headed up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) folks, aided by hundreds of volunteers ranging from organizations like our friends at the Sea Turtle Preservation Society (STPS) and Brevard Zoo to the duck hunters described in Bill Sargent's article in Florida Today newspaper (see Related Links below).

Turtle photographer extraordinaire, Jim Angy, has provided us with some wonderful pix of rescues and releases. I'll compile them into a slideshow soon, but I wanted to share a couple with you now. This first one is of a truckbed full of cold-stunned sea turtles, mostly greens. FWC examined, weighed, measured, tagged, and logged EVERY rescued turtle. The poor cold creatures were then parsed out to any facility that could provide a warm environment for them. Indeed, this logistical effort will provide stories for years to come, along with tales of kind people who kept the sea turtles' eyes sprayed with water and provided whatever other creature comforts they could. (I'm one of those people who firmly believes that creatures know and appreciate those who are trying to help. I also believe Heaven is run by critters, children, and old people, but that's another story.)

This next photo shows STPS friend Roger releasing an eager sea turtle back into the Lagoon south of Sebastian Inlet later in the week, once the waters started to warm up. Jim tells me the turtles took off like bullets once they hit the water.

However, this one lingered for a glamour shot!

Our thanks and sincere admiration to all who participated in this rescue effort, and special recognition to FWC for their ability to react so quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

Related Links:

Bill Sargent's story in Florida Today

Cold Critters

We've had record-breaking cold for an extended period of time, and our critters are not used to it. Friend Blair Witherington can be seen in a video (see Reference Links below) about cold-stunned sea turtles pulled from Mosquito Lagoon at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR). According to an alert sent out by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, the Marine Science Center in Volusia County had received some 300 for rehab as of yesterday. In South Brevard, thankfully we have not had those numbers, but 13 were rescued yesterday, and this morning started out with a rescue at Long Point Park. Those of you in Brevard County - if you find a sea turtle that needs help, call the STPS at 321-768-1701.

Meanwhile, the manatees have sought refuge in a drainage ditch close to friend Wayne Matchett's house in Satellite Beach. This many manatees in this accessible a location is big news, and there have been a variety of print and tv stories about it - one issue is that it is illegal to feed them, but that's not stopping people from doing it, trespassing on private property to see them, etc. As is usual, it's not the critters that are the problem! We thank Wayne for sharing his wonderful pix, legally obtained!

All I know is, I've been in Florida since the early 1960s, and this is the first time I remember the water in my bird bath being frozen! Most of our wild birds, however, do not seem too bothered. Wayne sent photos from a drive he and Julie took through MINWR, and at least this roseate spoonbill is not wrapped in its snuggy. (They stopped at Sunrise Bakery on US #1 in Titusville, on that southbound stretch of Hopkins that goes through downtown - he tells me their breads are excellent. They dined at Dixie Crossroads, always a favorite. A field trip that includes beautiful birds, good food, and fresh bread sounds like a winner to me.)

From the Gulf Coast, this news from friend Suzi Fox, sea turtle volunteer extraordinaire. Permit holders from Lee and Collier counties rescued an adult leatherback sea turtle and transported it to Mote Marine Laboratory Rehab Hospital. I'm going to wait and do a separate post on this later this week - the press release had a thorough writeup about leatherbacks, and I want to share the whole thing with you.

As always, a salute to the many volunteers helping our critters through this disruption.

Reference Links:
Cold-stunned sea turtle video with Blair in it

Marine Science Center (press release about cold-stunned sea turtles and birds)

Sunrise Bakery

Mote Marine Laboratory (includes information about the rescued leatherback)

2010 - Bring it ON!

Prior to Christmas, Charlie Corbeil sent this beautiful photo of a masked duck that has taken up residence at Viera Wetlands. According to Wikipedia, these smallish stiff-tailed ducks reside primarily in Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean and are generally non-migratory. They are rarely seen in our neck of the woods. Charlie tells me there was a female masked duck in the Viera Wetlands three years ago, and hundreds of birders from all over came to see it. This one is a drake, and we're lucky that Charlie saw it and got this beautiful photograph before the hordes began decending on the Wetlands again. (Right after Christmas, the Brevard Natural Resources Management Offices reported numerous traffic problems attributed to folks coming to see the duck.) The first one three years ago stayed about six weeks, so perhaps this little guy will hang around for the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, January 27 - February 1! (As aways, our continuing thanks to Charlie for sharing his talent with us so graciously.)

Speaking of the Festival, be sure to visit Blog the Beach (see Reference Links below) - David is posting professionally for the Festival this year and has done several excellent posts about field trips and speakers.

I took a look at what I wrote on January 1, 2009 - it was about Ann Zscheille's trip to The Turtle Hospital for a rehab workshop. She went again this year, and her visit reminds me to tell you that Sandy, the Hawksbill from St. Croix that was attacked by dogs while laying her eggs on the beach, flown to the United States, and treated at The Turtle Hospital, recovered after a full year of treatment and was flown back to St. Croix and released. How's that for a great success story! Kudos to all involved, including American Airlines, who brought Sandy to Florida when she was injured and flew her and Turtle Hospital personnel back to St. Croix for her release. (See Reference Links below).

It's a rainy, quiet day here on this first day of 2010 - perfect for making resolutions and being retrospective, but I'm not fond of either activity, so I'll watch football and wallow in a day of laziness. Here in Central Florida, we're being held hostage by the battle between Time Warner Cable and Fox, so we still don't know if we'll see the media-flagellated drama that is the Gators in tonight's Sugar Bowl. Right now, I'm going to go watch Bobby Bowden's last game, not because I'm an FSU fan, but out of respect for an icon that's been treated poorly - what classless treatment of a classy coach.

But whether we get to watch the game tonight or not ...

GO GATORS!

REFERENCE LINKS:

Charlie Corbeil Photography

Masked Duck

Blog the Beach

The Turtle Hospital

Sandy Released

Happy Holidays

Last year's holiday greeting featured Charlie Corbeil's beautiful photo of a Florida mockingbird and a balsam apple. Once again, Charlie has shared his Christmas card with us - this year's photo is of a lodgepole pine, and it was taken at Yellowstone National Park (in July, fortunately - I'm certain it is buried in show right now). Charlie writes that because the trunk of this tree is long and straight, the natives and early settlers used them to build their shelters. Indeed, its name reflects its use in American Indian tepee lodges.

As always, we're grateful for Charlie's prodigious talent and generous nature. You can see more of Charlie's work at his web site, Charlie Corbeil Photography.

Christmas Eve 41 years ago

This may look familiar to faithful readers, as it is a repeat of last year's Christmas Eve post ... it's my favorite "night before Christmas" story. marge

Forty-one years ago, Apollo 8 was launched from Cape Kennedy on Dec. 21 and entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve. So many "firsts" and so many technological accomplishments, but the lingering memory is of the astronauts (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders) beaming a television program from orbit to earth on Christmas Eve, during which they read from the Book of Genesis. They timed their broadcast to show the planet Earth hanging in the blackness of space and the surface of the moon visible in the lower left corner. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. In addition to our profound appreciation to NASA for its many technological achievements, we must also recognize their extraordinary sense of history and documentation that allows us to relive Apollo 8. Here, then, is that timeless greeting from the crew of Apollo 8, illustrated by NASA's photo entitled Rising Earth.

William Anders: "For all the people on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you. " "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Jim Lovell: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Frank Borman: "And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

Borman then added, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."

Holiday Wishes

When Ann forwarded this Christmas greeting, it took me all of five seconds to decide to email the artist to request her permission to share it with you. Nini and Michael Conner are Sea Turtle Preservation Society members that started their sea turtle volunteer work in Ann's STERP program and have since expanded into nest survey and education activities. Nini did the artwork, and Michael came up with the title (I'll bet it reflects a wry sense of humor). Perfect!

My thanks to the Conners for permission to share their card. They added their wish for good will to all creatures great and small, and I echo that wish.