Georgia Sea Turtle Center

We made a stop near Jekyll Island, which is one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands and about halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, Florida, to make a visit to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center is a nature center and rescue/rehabilitation facility for sea turtles that was founded in 2007.  The Center is housed in the former Power Plant building of the Jekyll Island Club and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Check out the brick work in front of the building.

See the turtle?

This is Georgia's only sea turtle education and rehabilitation facility and offers the public a chance to learn about sea turtles and see rehabilitation in action.

The Center features interactive exhibits and patient viewing areas.  In addition to caring for sick and injured turtles, the Center has an educational mission and presents programs, tours, and even beach walks.

Our first stop was to see Dixon in the operating room.

It was fascinating to watch the procedure and to see how caring these people were to Dixon.

Look at that face!  

There was even a TV monitor so you could view closer up.

There are threats to sea turtles that I never thought about before.  Since 2007, the Center has treated hundreds of sick and injured turtles, with most of the turtles returning home to the ocean.

 to the ocean.

After watching the procedure, we walked next door to the Sea Turtle Hospital.

There were quite a few patients receiving care.

We learned about the water quality for the patients.

And the diet they are fed to aid in their rehabilitation.

It was nice to see the number of sea turtles that have been released as of May 15, 2024.

As we left, we saw one last sea turtle.

YIKES!!!