Friday, May 30, 2008

Turtle trivia

In the Thursday, May 29, edition of The Star, I wrote a column about my recent visit to the South Carolina Aquarium.
Part of that visit included seeing the Sea Turtle Hospital at the aquarium. The loggerhead turtle, the state reptile for South Carolina, is what is most frequently seen at the hospital. The turtles are endangered and the hospital director, Kelly, told me about a Web site, www.seaturtle.org,.
On the site you can adopt a sea turtle, which I'd really like to do. The turtle I'm interested in is named Edisto, and was picked up last May 21. He's since been returned to the ocean. He's being tracked by the S.C. Aquarium. He's been along the North and South Carolina coastline, swimming away.
Here are some facts about sea turtles:
- Sea turtles have survived more than 110 million years of evolution and geological change.
- The nesting season for sea turtles along the South Carolina coast is from May to October. During that time, homeowners are asked to turn their lights out. While at the aquarium, I asked why this was and the answer is that mother sea turtles use the moon to guide them and could be confused by artificial light. And when the babies hatch, they too use the moon to guide them back to sea.

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