A Jekyll Island Reprise [Update 2]

[ Vickie does it again - see comments at the end of this blog for answer and standings.]

It was only fitting that we should pay a return visit to Jekyll Island since it has been one of the favorite discoveries of this journey thus far (but I should also mention that our list of favorites is really pretty long). Weather forecasts down here (especially along the coastal areas) appear to be a real challenge and rarely correct. We picked today for this trip since it was supposed to be the brightest and warmest day of the week and since we leave for Florida on Sunday, our options were limited. Needless to say, the day was mostly overcast and cool and the actual visibility right at the Atlantic coast was very limited. On the other hand, we did not have to concern ourselves with the position of the sun as we were taking photos on the island.

Today's photographs are divided into two groups; the first being various sites around the island, including some of the 'cottages' that we had missed during our first visit and the second being turtles. One of the primary missions of the State Park on Jekyll is the preservation of the Sea Turtle community and this includes a turtle hospital where turtles that are ill or injured or otherwise not fit to survive on their own in the wild are nursed to a condition that would allow them to be returned to their natural habitat. Today's challenge (a bit more on the difficult side) is to identify the little turtles that you will see in the pictures with numbers painted on their backs. As a clue, these are not sea turtles but they live in the salt marsh areas. Much smaller than the others pictured in this album, the largest of this variety (the females are larger than the males) is on record at only 8 inches. The largest variety of sea turtles, on the other hand, can grow to a size of 8 feet and weigh in at a ton.

The day ended with dinner at the GA Pig. Ah, but that's another story.

Jekyll Reprise Photos

Turtle Photos

The Diamondback Terrapin is a species of turtle restricted to the North American continent from Massachusetts to Texas, found in salt marsh and mangrove habitats. Of the more than 350 species of turtles in the world, there is only one species of terrapin though the species is divided into seven sub-species, five of which can be found here in Georga.