Sea Turtles Rock My Socks Off

Our last field trip was to the South Carolina Aquarium. This trip was really neat for me because I've actually been to the aquarium several times, but because of taking Herpetology, my eyes were open to a bunch of animals and organisms that I had never even noticed before. The creature that really struck my fancy was the Cryptobranchus alleganiensis. I have probably walked by his little tank a dozen times and never noticed him, and even if I did notice him, I wouldn't have thought him cool. It was honestly really neat to see him, or atleast a live specimen of him. In class, he's all gross and ugly and smooshy. Ha! It was also great to see the sea turtles. I had no idea how active the aquarium was in bringing in hurt turtles and other animals, nursing them to health, and eventually, in some cases, setting them free. For the sea turtles that they set free, there is apparently a website that you can go on and see their tracks and trips that they have made since set free. I wish I could remember it. I have attached some pictures from last summer when I went out to Folly beach to watch the release of "Edisto". He was a loggerhead seaturtle over 300lbs! It took him forever to get to the water, and he finally needed help to get there. It took 5 guys, but he finally made it! They attached a satellite transmitter on his back so they could track him, which hopefully you can see in one of the pictures. The rest of the trip was neat, but I thought seeing the sea turtles was the highlight. It's amazing to see just how big they can get. In one of the huge tanks, there were baby loggerheads. You talk about cute. I would have taken them home in a second. After seeing them, I didn't even want to see anything else! PRECIOUS! Even cuter than the terrapins, which is saying something. Overall, the trip to the aquarium was very fun. Though it wasn't really hands on like some of our last field trips, it was nice to just have the animals come to us instead of going and looking for them in a swamp! It didn't take too much of the fun out of it.... (Anne Chalmers)