Happy World Oceans Day!

Today is the day we celebrate the oceans and despite the recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast, there's still so much to celebrate. They give life to us land animals and even if you've only seen the oceans in pictures or on tv you still have so much to celebrate. The world is blue and we couldn't exist without the oceans.

I love the ocean so much and so does Mom. She loves it so much that she's leaving tomorrow for the Atlantic ocean. Yep. It's that time of year again - turtle time!

Mom is heading back to Wassaw Island to assist the Caretta Research Project with loggerhead nesting. You can read about my post from last year here for details on Wassaw Island. Mom said it's the most magical place on Earth and since I've never been there I'll have to take her word for it.

Mom will be spending the week with this gorgeous lady, the original turtlebabe, Kris. She's the director of the project and Mom loves her like a sister. Mom once told her that she wanted to be just like her when she grew up. This is funny because Kris is just a little younger than Mom!

This picture is from Mom's first year turtling. She was on Wassaw in August helping with hatchling season. She helped so many little babies to the ocean that year and was instantly hooked.

Mom will also be with these lovely ladies. Okay, so Carole will definitely be there but Trixie the loggerhead turtle might be too. She nested a couple of weeks ago and should be ready to nest again next week. Keep your paws crossed that she makes an appearance because she's Carole turtle.

This picture is from Carole's first year on Wassaw. Mom was an old pro by this time and was showing Carole the ropes with this beautiful momma. In case you're wondering, they are checking the turtle for tags. If a turtle isn't tagged then they tag her, one tag on each of her front flippers. They lovingly refer to the tags as jewelry and imagine all the mommas returning to the ocean to show off their jewelry to all the other turtles.

Mom and Carole hit it off right away and this will be their fifth year together on the island. Mom can't even imagine Wassaw without her and Kris. This is them last year in the main cabin getting ready to head out to the beach.

This picture of Mom and her crew is from 2005. This momma decided she wanted to nest at sunrise and everyone couldn't have been happier. Called a dawn turtle, this is the best time to take pictures of turtles. The guy standing behind Mom is Jason and he will be the assistant on Mom's week.

Mom says one of the reasons Wassaw is so magical is because of its natural beauty. This is one of the roads on the island and you can see that it looks like a movie set. It's organized chaos with all the moss hanging from the live oaks. Mom claims that Wassaw also smells like no other place she's ever been. As soon as she steps off the boat and onto the dock she smells the island and knows that she's arrived - in utopia.

Mom's hoping to see lots of these guys this year too. There are lots of them on the island but some years she sees them and some she doesn't. This picture is from a few years ago and was taken as they were heading to the beach. Joe is holding the alligator after finding it in the dark.

So this is what Mom is going to be doing next week. Patrolling the beach every night looking for mommas just like this one. This momma had just nested and was heading back into the ocean. Notice all the sand on her back. This is from her covering her nest so that nothing will disturb it. Don't worry momma, Mom won't let anything happen to your babies.

Mom said that even after all these years, it never gets old seeing sea turtles nest. It almost always brings a tear to her eyes because these gracious creatures face so many perils in the ocean. It saddens me so much to think of them swimming through all the oil that's spilling into the Gulf Coast. I've asked Mom to tell all the mommas to swim around the oil and to tell all their friends to do the same.

But what about me? I want to thank all of you for the sweet comments you left on yesterday's post. Mom was a little freaked out last night waiting for the doctor to call. The doctor called this morning while Mom was out getting prettied up so Dad talked to the doctor and guess what? My blood work came back totally normal. I'm okay! It's true. Dr. Chung told Dad that not only am I okay but that he should feed me a little bit more because she doesn't want me to lose more weight. Feed me more? YAY!

Since Mom is going to be gone for twelve days you know what that means. I asked her to leave the 'puter on for me but she reminded me that that would be a waste of energy. So no computer means no blogging. In lieu of blogging I will be eating. Eating Popeyes, french fries, hamburgers, watermelon, hot dogs, etc. Dad said I can have whatever I want. We are going to party like rockstars while Mom is gone!