THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 30, 1996 TAG: 9605300046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Virginia Marine Science Museum
Expansion Countdown: 16 days to Go
SOURCE: BY PAT DOOLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 80 lines
WHEN THE Virginia Marine Science Museum unveils its grand expansion June 15, visitors will see creatures they've never seen before.
And at least one they won't see anywhere else.
The museum will be home to a rare sea turtle that's a cross between a loggerhead and a Kemps ridley, two varieties commonly found in the Chesapeake Bay in summer.
A new 70,000-gallon turtle tank will give onlookers a view of the 60-pound, 2-foot-long reptile that assistant curator Mark Swingle said is ``one of the rarest animals in the whole museum.''
Although crossbred turtles are known to exist, Swingle said, this is the first live one believed to have been found in the wild.
The turtle became stranded along the Virginia coast about three years ago. Swingle said sea turtles are cold-blooded, but they can become stunned when icy water severely lowers their body temperature. The animals become lethargic and may not eat.
The stranded turtle was cared for at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester. When the institute closed for the winter, the turtle was moved to a Virginia Beach warehouse where the museum staff cares for a variety of sea animals.
The graceful brown and ivory swimmer shares temporary underwater quarters with three loggerheads and a Kemps ridley. It also shares some characteristics of each. It has the brownish-red carapace, or shell, of the loggerhead. But it has the Kemps ridley's scute, or shell, pattern and the pores typically found on a Kemps ridley's plastron, or underside.
Soon, the warehoused turtles will be gently transported in tubs, lifted by special slings and eased into the new seawater tank that duplicates their natural environment. About five varieties of fish will join them, giving visitors a glimpse of the sea turtle's world and researchers a few lessons in sea life.
When the eggs hatch, the young turtles are on their own. ``From the moment they emerge, they're facing trials and tribulations,'' Swingle said. Some will become food for other animals, such as gulls, without ever reaching the water. Some will be casualties of the sea. Only 1 in 10,000 reaches maturity, but adults can live to 50 years.
Females return to near their home beaches to nest - in a couple of decades.
Very little is known about sea turtles in their first year especially, Swingle said. The female crawls onto pristine beaches to lay her eggs in carefully carved niches. She covers the eggs so well ``you can't even tell she's been there,'' he said. She then returns to sea.
Unlike familiar land turtles, sea turtles spend most of their lives underwater, Swingle said. There are five varieties of sea turtles; the others are the green, the leatherback and the hawksbill. All are known to swim along the Virginia coast at one time or another.
But the museum doesn't take turtles from the wild. It nurtures animals that may be sick, stranded or even handicapped, Swingle said. One of the museum's loggerheads, for example, has a slight shell deformity.
All sea turtles are endangered but man is their greatest foe, Swingle said. Around the world, turtles have been prized for their meat and eggs, both sources of protein. Green turtles, in particular, have been a valuable ingredient in soup. In the United States, it is illegal to hunt turtles for food.
Eventually, all of the turtles believed to be strong enough to survive on their own will be re-released. Each year, the Virginia museum will receive four hatchlings from museums and marine centers across the United States. Swingle hopes the museum exhibit soon will include a green turtle.
Since fall, the staff has raised four hatchling loggerheads. The 9-month-old turtles are about the size of a large, fat pancake. They have fins and a carapace, as do the older turtles.
Unlike land turtles, sea turtles do not have feet, nor can they pull their heads inside their shells. They have adapted well to sea life, Swingle explained. ``Their bodies are very streamlined.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Kim Goldman of the Virginia Marine Science Museum feeds a loggerhead
sea turtle at the museum warehouse in Virginia Beach. The turtles
will soon be moved to their new tank.
KEYWORDS: LOGGERHEAD TURTLES by CNB