Addy's Aventure By Sara Buck Lane Tybee Island Marine Science Center
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t was a story that left the Tybee Island community and surrounding area in disbelief. Whether you are a resident of coastal Georgia or not, there’s a good chance you remember hearing about the six loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings that were taken from the beach on Tybee Island in July 2018. The story quickly made national news that summer. Instead of making their way to the ocean as hatchlings do, the six hatchlings were taken from the beach by island visitors, who were unaware of the legal ramifications of taking protected animals from their habitat. The hatchlings were taken back to Admiral’s Inn, a local Tybee Island lodging establishment, where the visitors were staying. The baby hatchlings were soon found by the housekeeping and maintenance staff at the inn and the Tybee Island Marine Science Center was notified. Staff from the Center rushed over and within an hour of being retrieved from the inn, five of the hatchlings were re-hydrated and released into the Atlantic Ocean on the north end of Tybee Island.
After just a couple months in the care of TIMSC, she's already growing. Photo provided by Tybee Island Marine Science Center
As part of their conservation efforts, the Tybee Island Marine Science Center holds a permit to keep a hatchling every two years to serve as an animal ambassador. The sixth hatchling was kept by the center for that very purpose. The baby hatchling needed a name and locals had fun weighing in on what her name should be. It was soon decided that she would be called Addy, after her brief and unusual stay at Admiral’s Inn. Addy became quite the celebrity that summer. She settled into her home at the Center’s Strand location right away and it wasn’t long before her unique personality started to shine. Weighing just 17g (approximately the weight of a strawberry or a tablespoon of water) when she first arrived at the Center, Addy is now quite the heavyweight weighing in at 13,000kg (approximately 30 pounds). She quickly graduated from her 30 gallon tank to her current 800
Shown here in a small plastic tub, these six hatchlings were found in a tourist's room at a local inn on Tybee Island. Photo provided by Tybee Island Marine Science Center 12
Southern Tides Magazine
February 2021
