Sea Turtle Hospital News
Will that be plastic, or plastic?
When Mr. McGuire told Benjamin that he had one word for him, “plastics” we all laughed. That was in the movie “The Graduate” and the year was 1967. Forty-four years later it’s not so funny.
Our hospital recently played host to Captain Charles Moore at the Surf City Welcome Center. Charlie is credited with discovering The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and is touring the east coast with his new book “Plastic Ocean.” This massive island of floating debris is in the North Pacific Gyre, spanning the Pacific from Japan to California with the Hawaiian Islands at its center. The graphics in his presentation are just that, extremely graphic, especially the animated timelines showing just how much garbage has been swirled into what should be pristine water, both in the past and into the future. It’s a mess out there, and it won’t be long before it’s coming to a neighborhood beach near you. This is only one of the five planetary gyres that have been churning up what we’ve been throwing away for decades.
We’ve seen the effects of ocean litter on our patients for years, and have quite a collection of “things I ate because it looked like food to me;” pretty much all of it is some form of plastic. And if our turtles are eating it you can be sure everything else in the oceans is making the same mistake. It moves up the food chain with the bigger predators eating the smaller ones, eventually ending up on our dinner tables. Biodegradable does not mean gone forever, and our bodies have not evolved to effectively deal with the kind of pollutants we’re ingesting.
Not only are the fish eating the plastic but these massive rafts of debris have created habitats for formerly non-pelagic fish. Species of reef fish are now finding that everything from large drums to tiny bottles are an excellent place to call home, feeding on the algae that grow on them, eating the degraded plastic pellet “soup” and using them as a place to hide. Although more fish might not sound so bad on the surface Captain Moore is quick to point out that it’s a major disruption to the ecosystem, introducing new species into areas where they are doing more harm than good.
And it’s not just “us”. Consumers in the newly emerging economies of China and India embrace all things plastic, from actual products to the plastic they’re wrapped in. Think about it: there’s almost nothing you can buy that you don’t have to literally break into! It’s a different world from the one we aging baby boomers grew up in, when the milk was delivered in glass bottles and we drank water out of the garden hose (horrors!) when we got thirsty. And we somehow survived lugging all those empty Pepsi bottles back to the store for the two-cent deposit. Charlie’s description of entire cities of tsunami debris riding the gyre and heading for the Hawaiian Islands is alarming and frightening, and there are no plans to deal with it.
We as consumers must rethink our lifestyles, and what we think we “need” or it might not be too long until the prediction of the late comedian George Carlin comes true: the planet will shake us humans off like a bad case of fleas, leaving behind a new paradigm, “Earth Plus Plastic.” You can purchase signed copies of “Plastic Ocean” locally at QuarterMoon Bookstore in Topsail Beach for the whole story.
A slow start
Not that we’re complaining about not being overrun with cold-stunned turtles. These seventy-degree days can’t last forever no matter how much we wish they would, so we still need the help of our residents and visitors to be on the lookout for turtles you see stranded on the beach, in the grasses along the shore and in the water. If it’s not moving please don’t assume it is dead. It might be cold stunned, and when rescued in time the prognosis for these critters is excellent.
If you come across a stunned turtle carefully pick it up and place it in a protected but not overly warm area (a garage, car or laundry room would work well.) DO NOT place the turtle in warm water; a sudden change in temperature will send it into shock and possibly kill it. Immediately call the Wildlife Resources Commission’s sea turtle emergency hotline number at: 252-241-7367. Someone is available 24/7 to pick up calls. Locally you can call Terry (see number below) or Jean at: 910-470-2800.
Please report any and all local sea turtle activity (hatchings, strandings, injured or sick turtles) immediately to our Director of Beach Operations, Terry Meyer at 910-470-2880. Terry can be reached at: topsailseaturtle@aol.com for non-emergencies. All sea turtles are federally protected and harassing or harming them in any way will result in hefty fines and/or imprisonment.
Our Gift Shop Annex open Tuesdays & Saturdays!
Business has been booming on Tuesdays so we’ve expanded our hours to include Saturday. Just knock on our hospital door between 9 AM and 11 AM on any Tuesday and we’ll direct you a few short blocks down the street where our gift shop guru, Peggy will assist you with your holiday shopping. On Saturday, from 10 AM to 2 PM come directly to the annex at 706 Carolina Blvd., the small house directly behind “The Gift Basket.” Visit us online for gift ideas before you come, and remember we can only accept cash and checks at this time. You can also shop for our logo T’s year-round at QuarterMoon Bookstore in Topsail Beach. Lori has been carrying our shirts for years; flipper hugs, lady. But if you can’t make it to our annex or Lori’s shop please use the online ordering service, and shop early for the best selection of styles and colors.
Our website: www.seaturtlehospital.org is open year-round. Stay connected with our patients and the progress of the new hospital. We’re stocked with clothing and other gifts and goodies perfect for turtle lovers. Follow the links to “Adopt-A-Sea-Turtle,” we have some pretty high maintenance patients who need all the financial and moral support you can provide. There’s still time to add your family’s name to our wall of fame with the “Family Giving Challenge.”
Run – quick!
Only a few more days to sign up for the “Canine 5K & One-Mile Turtle Crawl” being held on December 3rd at the Mayfaire Town Center. Bring yourself, family, friends and your dog! Although our patients got pretty excited when they heard the hospital will be sharing in the proceeds along with Canines for Veterans we had to turn down their requests to join in the turtle crawl – just too cold out for reptiles. McColl & Associates, Inc. adoptive parents of 2011 hospital graduate “Gravely” are the organizers of the event. You can register online at: its-go-time.com/canine-5k. Flipper hugs to our friends at McColl & Associates!
Questions, comments, suggestions??
Please direct any questions, comments or suggestions re: this column to me at: flippers@att.net. To be added to the newsletter list e-mail me at the same address: flippers@att.net. I’ll be doing a newsletter before Christmas. This column will appear every other week until next Spring, unless something really exciting happens.
