Learning About Sea Turtles and More at the South Carolina Aquarium

During stage 1 we will kayak 1,400 miles from Seattle, Washington to Skagway, Alaska. The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial animals. We will be studying whales and other marine mammals, kelp forests, salmon, and many other species.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a variety of large land mammals including Grizzly Bears, and Black Bears. Above and below the surface we are sure to find plenty of things to learn about. Many of these large mammals need large undeveloped spaces to thrive and the roadless sections of British Columbia and Alaska provide the perfect habitat.

From Skagway, Alaska we will hike over the Chilkoot Pass in the footsteps of thousands of gold seekers who struggled across the pass to reach the Klondike. Many of artifacts remain from those early days, and we will follow their path all the way to Dawson City along the mighty Yukon River.

From Bennet Lake on the eastern side of the Chilkoot Pass we will canoe through a chain of lakes that form the headwaters of the Yukon River past White Horse and down the swift flowing Yukon River to Dawson City.

From Dawson we will hike 100 miles through the mountains to the headwaters of the Blackstone River. The Blackstone flows into the Peel River, which flows in the McKenzie River, which will lead us to the Arctic Ocean. The rivers flowing through these rugged mountains as some of the most pristine wild rivers in North America, with hundreds of miles of flowing waterways between towns or roads.

After over 2,600 miles of paddling and hiking we hope to reach the Arctic Ocean before freeze up. We will spend the month of October,2010 training our dogs, and learning about native life in the Arctic. In November we will head south along the McKenzie River by dog team, crossing 1,800 miles of frozen wilderness. There are many remote native communities along our way and we are sure to learn a lot from the people we encounter.

When the ice melts in the Spring of 2011 we will transition from dogsled to canoe and paddle 2,300 miles along the historic travel and trade route pioneered by Alexander McKenzie, Samuel Hearne, and other Canadian Explorers in the 1700's. We will finish this stage of our journey in the fall of 2011 by completing the 8 1/2 mile Grand Portage which will lead us to the rock shore of Lake Superior.

After spending the winter giving presentations and making final preparations we will begin 4,800 mile kayak journey from Grand Portage, Minnesota to Key West, Florida. The first 2,200 miles will take us through the Great Lakes and out the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Great Lakes contain 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water, which is one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. We plan to demonstrate the importance of properly managing and protecting this amazing resource.

During the final stage of our journey we will kayak the length of the Atlantic Coast from the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Key West, Florida. We will be following the seasonal whale migration from the Bay of Fundy in Maine to the warm clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way we will visit cities large and small, and study a variety of ecosystems and environmental topics. We also plan to take side trips into the cyprus swamps and Everglades National Park looking for Alligators, birds, and other critters.

Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs Kayaks

GoMacro makes wonderful macrobiotic energy bars.

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Learning About Sea Turtles and More at the South Carolina Aquarium

Friday, 25 January 2013 15:09 Written by Administrator

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While we were in Charleston, Dave and I visited the South Carolina Aquarium. Whit McMillan gave us a tour that included a peek behind the scenes. We arrived at the top of the Great Ocean tank at shark feeding time. There was a lot of activity as sharks swarmed around the food that was dropped into the water. The Great Ocean tank is huge – 42 feet deep. It holds approximately 750 fish and one Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Her name is Greta. She weighs 220 pounds!

Speaking of sea turtles, our next stop was at a very special place: the Sea Turtle Hospital. Here they treat injured and sick sea turtles. Turtles are commonly treated for symptoms like hypothermia, dehydration and anemia. They have also treated turtles that have been hit by boats or tangled in fishing line or nets.

Currently there are 24 patients in the Sea Turtle Hospital. This is the most patients this hospital has ever had. The reason is the recent cold fronts that have hit the East Coast. Most of the turtles currently in the hospital had varying degrees of “cold stun”. Sea turtles are reptiles. They are cold-blooded and migrate to stay in warm waters. Sudden cold weather in a coastal area causes the water temperature to drop. Turtles that haven't migrated out of this area yet become cold stunned. When a sea turtle is cold stunned, it floats at the surface, which makes it more vulnerable to being hit by a boat or tangled in fishing nets.

The Sea Turtle Hospital has treated and released a lot of turtles over the years. In fact, Whit told us that they just released their 100^th sea turtle. The types of sea turtles currently in the hospital are Green Sea Turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle and Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle.

Loggerhead Sea Turtles are the most abundant sea turtle found in waters off the U.S. Coast. Green Sea Turtles are among the largest sea turtles in the world. Only the Leatherback Sea Turtle is larger. Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles are the world's most endangered population of sea turtles. They are endangered due to over-harvesting of their eggs in the past century. Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles are also the smallest marine turtle in the world.

We learned so much during our time at the South Carolina Aquarium. Thank you to Whit for such an informative tour. The Sea Turtle Hospital is truly a special place. We hope all the current patients recover and return to the ocean soon!