Mrs. Boyce’s second grade class adopted a sea turtle from the Jekyll Island Georgia Sea Turtle Center last summer. They adopted a juvenile green sea turtle named Bandit, who was found stranded on Little Saint Simons Island, Georgia in 2021. She has been healing from a boat-strike injury resulting in partial paralysis. Our class has been enjoying all of the pictures sent and updates on Bandit each month. They have even written friendly letters to Bandit for the holidays.
On Tuesday, they took a virtual field trip to see the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center. Students spoke to the staff there and learned about turtle habitats, adaptations, and conservation. We met a loggerhead turtle, Petuna, from Cape Cod, MA, an Olive ridley turtle with a walnut colored shell, and several green sea turtles, including Bandit.
We learned that Bandit is now weighing in at 68 pounds, loves to splash the staff members, and wears a weight on her shell to keep her more balanced in the water, since her back flippers don’t work well. They expect Bandit to have an important job of teaching others about being careful when boating. Sea Turtles can live from 60-100 years. The class is hopeful they will send Bandit to an aquarium near us so we may visit her in person.
