The Jekyll Island Authority is celebrating the two year anniversary of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and the 2009 sea turtle nesting season with a week-long series of family-fun activities. Advanced registration is required for some of the events and can be found at www.jekyllisland.com/nestfest.

Monday, June 8

Georgia Sea Turtle Center - Two Years Later and Beyond

5:30-7:00, Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Meet the staff at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for a private tour of the Center and a discussion with Dr. Terry Norton, Director of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, on success stories and accomplishments from the past two years plus their vision for the future.

FREE with paid admission to the Center. Reservations Required.

Tuesday, June 9

Turtles Are Not the Only Animals that Nest on Jekyll Island  - A discussion with Jim Gertis, Beekeeper, and Lydia Thompson, Birding Enthusiast.

5:30 - 7:00, Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Learn from Jim Gertis and Lydia Thompson about other animals that nest on Jekyll Island. Jim will give information on bee keeping and the natural benefits of honey. Lydia will speak on Wilson’s Plovers, savvy little birds that nest on Jekyll Island’s beaches and have a unique social structure.

FREE with paid admission to the Center. Reservations Required

Wednesday, June 10

Movie Night, Finding Nemo

7:00 PM  - 9:00 PM, Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Join staff from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for a movie night at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Bring you favorite sea life stuffed animal, blanket or sleeping bag, and watch this classic under-the-seas movie.

FREE. Reservations Required

Thursday, June 11

Beach Sweep

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Jekyll Island Beachdeck

Help us clean the Jekyll Island beach so that the sea turtles have pristine nesting grounds.

FREE

Friday, June 12

Breakfast with Scute and Pajama Tour

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM, Georgia Sea Turtle Center

Join the staff from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center along with Scute the Sea Turtle for a delicious breakfast and tour of the Center - in your pajamas! All kids are invited to wear their pajamas as they watch the turtles rise and shine for their day.

$11 per person. Includes admission to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Reservations Required.

Saturday, June 13

Nest Fest Party at the Beachdeck

12:00 Noon - 4:00 PM, Jekyll Island Beachdeck

Join the staff at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for an afternoon of interactive educational activities, arts and crafts, and fun on the beach. Vendors and exhibitors from various organizations in the Brunswick-Golden Isles region will also be present with hands-on exhibits. Kids can test their skills in the always popular Turtle Crawl obstacle course. Plus, one or more of the rehabilitated patients from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center will be released.

FREE

In addition to all these great activities, kids can visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and have their picture taken with Scute or vote on their favorite sea turtle patient to win Patient of the Year. Votes are accepted throughout the month of June. The winner will be announced online on July 2. For more information on any of these activities contact the Georgia Sea Turtle Center at 912-635-4444 or visit www.jekyllisland.com/nestfest. Be a fan of Nest Fest on Facebook.com.

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Reprinted by The Brunswick News Mon, Aug 11, 2008

By ANNA FERGUSON

With a few weeks left in the season, employees at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island are crossing their fingers in hopes of having a record year for loggerhead sea turtle nesting.

As of Friday, 165 loggerhead nests had been spotted along the Jekyll coastline. The record high for nests counted on the beach of the state park is 204, established in 2003.

“Things are going good,” said Stefanie Ouellette, education coordinator for the center.

Across the state, turtle counts have been equally positive. Turtle nests have reached a record high, with an estimated 1,544 nests on Georgia’s coastline.

Florida, too, has good news to report on the turtle front, noting a record high in nests counts since 2003, Ouellette said.

Loggerheads, an endangered species, typically have a nesting season that runs from June through August, with hatching season ending in October. Nesting counts had held steady in high numbers throughout the summer but began to slow toward the start of August, making this week’s count a welcome change, Ouellette said.

A number of explanations have been tossed about to account for the high number of nests, though no one reason can be pinned down, Ouellette said.

Last year’s nesting season was a record low for Jekyll, leading researchers to believe that this year’s high is part of the reptiles natural seasonal variations. The flux in counts could also be paying off from the ongoing efforts from the scientific community to increase awareness about nest protection and turtle preservation, Ouellette said.

“There is no one particular reason,” she said. “It could be any number of things.”

Whatever the reason, the 2008 nesting season is proving to be a great year, she said.

The turtle center is now switching its public awareness efforts from nests to hatchlings.

Turtle hatching season goes through the fall and is a season that is even more sensitive for turtles than nesting. Each nests holds an average of 100 to 120 eggs, with hatch rates posed between 80 and 100 percent for unmoved nests.

The baby turtles must make it from their nests to the ocean to survive, a move that is made doubly hard by harsh human lights.

“Now is the time to be even more careful about lights and keeping lights away from the beach,” Ouellette said.

To help ensure a safe route from the sand to the water for newly hatched turtles, Ouellete reminds beachgoers to point headlights away from dunes and to take precautions with flashlights by avoiding light use near the beach and adjacent sidewalks.

Tags: Georgia Sea Turtle Center, sea turtle, sea turtle hatching season, sea turtle nests
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