North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher Yearling Loggerheads 2013

A project of NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher in conjunction with the partners and sponsors detailed below.

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Introduction

The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) initiated a yearling loggerhead tracking in 2012. The program furthers the organization’s mission of inspiring appreciation and conservation of North Carolina’s aquatic environments.

Working closely with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and the Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project (PISTP), NCAFF acquires several loggerhead hatchlings each year. The PISTP obtains the hatchlings during nest excavations, which occur 72 hours after nests hatch. NCWRC permits allow NCAFF to display the loggerheads for educational purposes.

Husbandry staff monitors the hatchling loggerheads daily and pays close attention to growth rates and physical development during their time at NCAFF. The animals are weighed and measured weekly. Veterinary staff from the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine conduct quarterly physicals. As a result of this work, the staff continually adjusts the turtles’ diets to provide for the highest level of nutrition and care.

While living at the Aquarium, these hatchlings serve as part of the interactive “Let’s Talk Turtle” exhibit, where visitors talk with staff and volunteers about the life histories of sea turtles and the perils they face. These small ambassadors for their species help educate more than 400,000 NCAFF visitors each year.

When the hatchlings near the age of one, the staff begins to transition them for release back to their natural environment. A year-end physical is performed and, if deemed healthy, supplemental live food is offered to the turtles to simulate natural foraging. Larger enclosures are also provided to strengthen swimming muscles. The turtles are then transported to the Gulf Stream where water temperatures and currents are favorable to juvenile loggerheads.

Now in its second year, the Aquarium’s release program will provide more insight and information on the movements of juvenile loggerhead sea turtles.

The 2013 release group included two loggerhead sea turtles. These turtles hatched in an undiscovered dune nest on (date) in Kure Beach, North Carolina. When the nest hatched these turtles, along with 9 additional hatch mates, were disoriented. They traveled away from the water and crossed a busy road. Aquarium staff and PISTP discovered them later the same day. Several of the turtles were assisted on their journey and released. The Aquarium cared for the remaining turtles.

Staff determined two of the loggerheads were ready for release in the fall of 2013. Sassy and Shadow, as the animals were named, caught a ride with the U.S. Coast Guard to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream on Nov. 22, 2013.

Project Partners

Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project