Caring For Sea Turtles Makes For Magical Summer

If you could only use one word to describe Cordelia Bender’s summer, it would have to be “turtles.” The Heights High sophomore earned a competitive spot as a junior intern at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, North Carolina, where she worked for two weeks.

This was the fulfillment of a longtime dream of Cordelia’s. She and her family have vacationed in Top Sail, NC her entire life, and she started visiting the turtle hospital when she was just 3 years old. “When I first learned about the opportunity to be a junior intern, I said, ‘Oh yeah, I have to do that.’”

And so she did. Completing a thorough application that included recommendation letters from her 9th grade science teacher Kimberly Corrigan and World History teacher Patrick Fisher, and competing against hundreds of other rising 10th to 12th graders, Cordelia was awarded one of 24 spots. “They were so supportive,” she said of her teachers. “I’m so grateful to them.” 

Her teachers are similarly impressed by her. 

“Cordelia’s excitement about this opportunity, and the connections she made between what she learned and what we do in science class, really stood out,” said Ms. Corrigan. “It’s a great reminder of how valuable it is for students to learn beyond the classroom walls, and how CH-UH teachers can support those experiences by encouraging interests, sharing excitement, or mentoring students towards a future career path.”

Cordelia’s days consisted of eight-hour shifts spent preparing food for the sick and injured turtles, cleaning their tanks, administering medication, maintaining precise logs of food and medication intake, and leading public tours of the Center. “I got so much public speaking experience,” she said, “and met people from all over.”

The Center brings in sea turtles injured by boat collisions, cold stunning – a type of hypothermia turtles can experience when the temperature drops between October and March – and fish hook injuries, which she says are the easiest to remedy, as well as those who are sick or blind. The goal of the Center is to nurse the turtles in their care back to health so they can all be safely released back into the water. If a turtle’s condition demands it, a few of them are sent on to other longer-term rehabilitation centers or to carefully vetted zoos and aquariums. 

During Cordelia's two-week internship, she helped care for the 41 turtles housed at Karen Beasley, and was delighted to participate in the release of 11 of them. And she’s proud of the 95% success rate that the Center boasts. She also enjoyed the playful side of her work, as evidenced by the silly practice of naming the turtles. This year’s theme, chosen from among  suggestions from the public, was Desserts and Cordelia helped care for some shelled reptiles known as Jelly Roll, Hot Cross Buns and Whoopie Pie. 

But this was definitely a serious endeavor and one she hopes to repeat next year, as she pursues her goal of becoming a marine biologist or marine conservationist. “This renewed my dream and showed me the power of community, of people working together,” she said. “I’m so happy I got to be part of that magic.”

This conservation work for protected sea turtles at #KBSTRRC is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, ES Permit 25ST05.