Meet the Coral World Team What is your name and where are you from ? My name is Ryan Firment. I am from Amherst, Ohio (near Cleveland). I graduated from Amherst Steele High School in 2011. I then attended Bowling Green State University and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science with a specialization in…
Here at Coral World Ocean Park we use animal enrichment to help stimulate the animals that we care for and simulate real world situations for them to interact with. Melissa Sheffer, a former Coral World intern with the Aquarium Department, worked on a research project this past spring involving the four green sea turtles that…
At Coral World Ocean Park there are rehabilitation facilities for all kinds of animals. We do our best to nurse back to health sick or injured sea birds, freshwater turtles, and, most importantly, sea turtles. If concerned citizens of the Virgin Islands see a turtle that is in need of veterinary assistance, they can either…
Coral World serves as a rehabilitation center for injured or sick turtles and even struggling hatchlings that have not found their way out to sea and the safety of mats of Sargassum seaweed. Each year, Coral World helps dozens of hatchlings reach a safer environment. When tiny hatchling turtles are washed ashore, people often contact…
Sea Turtles can live to be 100 years old. Sea Turtles breathe air, but they can hold their breath up to 5 hours. Sea Turtles lay their eggs at night. The mother protects her eggs by putting the nest above the tide mark and covers the eggs with sand to keep them safe & warm. It takes several days for the hatchlings to dig out of the sand. The first turtle out is called the ‘scout’ and makes sure that they emerge at night when it is coolest and few predators can spot them. Hatchling turtles find their way to the ocean by looking for the brightest light, which is usually the moon over the ocean, or the horizon line on the water. Sea Turtles face many dangers, only 1 turtle out of every 1000 hatchlings lives to be an…
Have you ever seen a full grown sea turtle and wondered what it looked like when it was born? If you have, then Coral World has a treat for you! Hawksbill sea turtles are some of the most interesting creatures you will see on the reefs around St. Thomas. They are known for their beautiful shells, which had long been used to make jewerly and other “tortoise shell” items. Because of this, they were hunted to near extinction and are now protected by the Endangered Species Act. This legislation is crucial to their survival and the health of our reefs, because they perform a very important ecological function. Hawksbills eat sponges from the reefs and keep their growth in check. Without these turtles, sponges can grow too quickly and shade the corals from sunlight which they need to survive. There are…