Friday, August 22, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rescue Program blog! Through this blog, we will be able to keep you informed about the happenings in the South Carolina’s only sea turtle hospital. The program is in partnership with the SC Department of Natural Resources Marine Turtle Conservation Program. For starters, I would like to tell you about the amazing team that helps make this program a success.

The South Carolina Aquarium is a private, nonprofit organization that relies heavily on volunteers for the day to day operations. The Sea Turtle Rescue volunteer team is a group of 10 enthusiastic and dedicated people that give generously of their time to help this conservation program. Among other things, the volunteers are responsible for preparing food, feeding patients, cleaning holding tanks, administering vitamin supplements and oral medications, providing wound care and physical therapy, maintaining the hospital, giving turtle hospital tours and doing outreach programs. All of the volunteers have unique personalities and skills that make the program a success, but I would like to highlight one volunteer with a skill that will consistently show up in this blog.

For 5 years, Barbara Bergwerf has been lending her professional photographic skills to the rescue program by photographing the sick and injured turtles from admission to release. Barb is also the photographer of 2 award winning children’s books about sea turtles and has her photos in shops and galleries all around the nation. Thank you, Barb, for sharing your talents with us.

To the entire Sea Turtle Rescue volunteer team - thank you so much for your diligent work in the Turtle Hospital, your dedication to the Aquarium, and your passion for these amazing animals! We couldn’t do what we do without your help and I look forward to many more years of working with you!

Kelly Thorvalson
Sea Turtle Rescue Program Coordinator