Field Experience at Gumbo Limbo

Monday, 6th, 4th, and 5th grade went to Gumbo Limbo. We looked at a lot of different animals that live on the water like, fish, sea stars, eels, and a lot of turtles and fun facts about them. We also went to a butterfly garden which to be honest there where more spiders than butterflies. Another thing that we learned is that eels are green because they have a yellow or green mucous&nbsp;to provide protection from parasites and infectious bacteria. It also is easier for them to camouflage so that they can hide in reefs and catch a prey. There was a turtle named Morgan had air bubbles in her shell which wasn't good for her, so because of that she had a weight on her back.

Something I learned that I thought was very interesting is that honey can heal scars on a turtle's shell. Turtles are also starting to be known as endangered, and most part it is because of humans. Mostly because some boaters go over sea turtles on accident, and honey is something that can most of the time fix a turtles scar that was made a boat.

Another thing that happens to turtle's is that, they usually eat a lot of hooks on accident and some end up dying and, others might get surgery and humans end up saving them. Why a lot of places in the world have free plastic environment is because, sea turtles and other sea creatures usually mistake plastic or garbage with food, specially with jellyfish.

Field Experience at Gumbo Limbo

Written by: 6th Grade Class of 2019-2020

At the field trip to Gumbo Limbo we learned about some Sea Turtles and how they decide the gender. The gender is actually up to the temperature of the sand. If the sand is warm then it is a girl turtle.  In contrast, if the temperature of the sand is cold or cool, the gender of the turtle is a boy.

Tortoises can live up to eighty to one-hundred years- old! There was a gopher tortoise whose age was unknown, but he had been at Gumbo Limbo for seven years. It was so cute!

Stingrays have a stinger that looks like a tail and it is actually scared of people, but if it has no place to go it will sting you. It actually hurts them as much it hurts you.

First we went to the main building. There where not many things there. The only things that stood out where the giant fish tanks and the turtle rehabilitation facility. There where tortoises as well. I saw some really cute baby turtles. In the butterfly garden (more like spider garden), there where more spiders than butterflies. They where golden silk spiders, and they where there to eat the butterflies. I saw only one butterfly though.

Cane is a rescued female sea turtle at Gumbo Limb that lost 60% of her front fins due to unknown reasons, probably a boat or shark attack. Along with her fins she is blind in her right eye. She was in the hospital for a year and has been in Gumbo Limbo for the past seven years.

Due to turtles gender being determined by the temperature, combined with global warming, there are way too many females in the wild. Humans have been polluting, netting, and accidentally boating over sea turtles. To help this, some fishers are switching to special nets that take the fish and leave the turtles.

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My experience at Gumbo Limbo was awesome. When we got at Gumbo Limbo a lady explained to us about a turtle named, Cane, that couldn't swim very well. The reason being is that she lost 60 percent of her front fins and is blind in one eye. She has been at Gumbo Limbo for 7 years and is getting better. After a good look at all the wonderful creatures. We got to the turtle area. A volunteer explained to me that Gumbo Limbo workers and volunteers go to the beach every single day to help injured animals. He also explained that most sea turtle injuries are caused by boats and sharks. He showed us the spine of an injured turtle. When you see one up close you are going to be impressed. Another interesting story is about Morgan. She wears a vest as a weight because she has gas bubbles on her rear. Also, if you go there you are going to see that she likes to hide from people. This was my great experience at Gumbo Limbo!

Did you know that turtles use honey to heal injuries?

This is my adventure in Gumbo Limbo. First we went to the Turtle Rehab Center. The Rehab Center was really cool. I learned that you can heal a cracked turtles shell with honey. Did you know that turtles also take pill medicines just like us? Next we went to the Butterfly Garden. The Butterfly Garden was not my favourite location just because of the amount of spiders there! I was completely freaked out everytime my arm touched the tree. 

I saw a bunch of different spiders so it was pretty cool and scary at the same time! After that we went to the aquarium. That is were we met cane the turtle. There was another turtle named Morgan who had a weight on her back because she has bad air bubles in her back and floats. There was also a bunch of eels. It was really cool but sad at the same time. The reason why it was sad is because he had been in rahab for ten years! I learned that turtles are often hurt by knives, boat engines, and fishing lines. After that we had lunch and left.  I learned that you can find out a turtles gender by temperature. That was my adventure at Gumbo Limbo!

This is were we met cane the loggerhead turtle. Cane is blind in he right eye and lost her 60% of her front flippers due to unknown reasons. He likes to sleep and eat frozen blocks of fish. They have this tank because it acts like a natural habitat for Cane.

Gumbo Limbo field trip notes: In the butterfly garden, there were a lot of spiders. The spiders were Golden Silk spiders. In the main building there where turtles and a rehabilitation facility. In the turtle rehabilitation facility they had rescued turtles from the ocean that where hurt or had eaten plastic. Also I learned that honey can help and heal them.

Butterfly Garden: What I noticed in the butterfly garden was a lot of banana spiders, the weather was very humid and wet. Near shore or (the inter coastal) the water pressure was very high. In the forest there were a lot of dark areas and lots of different exotic plants and flowers.

Aquarium One: There are lots of fish and some fish would swim in circles, fight over lettuce and food, some fish would spy on others, all of the fish had different behaviors and all fish were different. The eel liked to be in the dark and the turtle liked to be in the corners. The catfish liked to swim on the ground and some fish liked to swim in the coral and rocks.

Turtle Aquarium: the baby turtles are very gentle with each other. Baby green turtles tend to go to the ocean first, and loggerhead turtles like to walk around the beach and explore the land first. Turtles that have bubbles in their shells use weights to swim.

Aquarium 2: There is a turtle named Morgan who has a weight and she likes to hide in the ship. sting rays interact with each other well. The fish like to eat cucumbers and big fish like to swim at the top.

Treating: When I was at Gumbo Limbo I learned that honey can treat the shell of the turtle if it gets a scratch, indent, or something that happened to the shell.

Gumbo Limbo was founded in 1984. Gumbo Limbo was a cooperative city project of Boca Raton, but then became a public place for people and for research. Did you know that more than 200,000 people visited Gumbo Limbo and took a break from the City of Boca. you can walk the board walk, You can look at all of the fish's, sharks, stingrays, and much other sea life such as turtles. You can learn so much there. Like environmental education and you can also see how much research the workers put into for the sea turtles to have a better life there. You should really go and visit Gumbo Limbo if your in the area!

At Gumbo limbo I learned a lot of cool things and i'd like to share a few of them with you. First I learned that Gumbo limbo isn't just a place for turtles to rehabilitate, it's also used for other animals to heal. I also learned that the usual cause for turtle deaths is boaters who are going to fast and cant see a turtle so they accidentally hit them. One of the other things I learned was that tumors can cause turtles to go much slower and easier for predators to catch them. Something else cool is that x-rays can be used to find debris and tumors inside the turtles and help doctors see where to remove them to help turtles heal. Also while I was in the butterfly garden I saw that a lot of spiders prefer lower rather then high trees. The final thing I learned is that turtles can actually be healed with honey. That was what I learned at Gumbo limbo and I hope you learned something from my page.

In the 1970s, Gumbo Limbo was just an inkling.

In the 1980s, The GBRBPD (funding organization) donated $750,000 to the Recreational and Parks department.

In the 2000s, the Sea Turtle Rehab Facility was permitted by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and was soon opened. The Rehabilitation Facility took in over 180 patients within the first few weeks of opening. Phase one of the board walk renovation was completed at that time.

By 2010, Gumbo Limbo was officially a rescue center for sea animals.

The Golden Silk Spiders web appears Golden when it hits the sunlight.

We took a trip to Gumbo Limbo with the 4th and 5th graders. learned a lot of great information at Gumbo Limbo. I thought was very interesting how they hold turtles to rehab them so they can go back to the sea. They haves lots of cool fish and turtles, I really liked the Golden Silk Spiders. I really enjoyed my trip to Gumbo Limbo.

They use honey to help turtles with cracked shells.

When we went to gumbo Limbo we saw lots of spiders on the boardwalk and not a lot of butterflies in the butterfly garden.At Gumbo Limbo the butterfly garden had more spiders than butterflies all the spiders were banana spiders, they were eating butterflies.

I learned that they put honey on the turtles injuries, so they can heal.

I also learned that most injuries are caused by boats and sharks.

A turtle named Morgan used a life vest to keep her underwater because she had air bubbles inside of her.

Eva

History of Gumbo Limbo

In the 1970s, the City of Boca Raton began to protect five miles of coastline  realizing that it would be very beneficial to the community. Boca Raton bought Red Reef Park in 1974 through a special Bond Referendum. In the 2010s the Sea Turtle rehabilitation facility got 180 turtles within only a few weeks since it first opened. The Sea Turtle rehabilitation got a lot of new seawater tanks for the turtles. Friends of Gumbo Limbo created the "Fill the Tanks" campaign to give the animals new seawater tanks.

<a href="https://www.gumbolimbo.org/history">https://www.gumbolimbo.org/history</a>

Gumbo limbo was so much fun!!

We saw a lot of spiders in the butterfly garden walk and while walking to have lunch!! They were pretty big.

I learned that if a turtle has a wound, you can heal it with honey. There was also a turtle named Cane that was sleeping. She is blind in her right eye and she lost 60 percent of her front flippers. The woman showing us said that turtles do not sleep for long.

On Monday we had a fled trip to Gumbo Limbo it was a lot of fun. We took notes and learned. The 4th and 5th graders came with us. We  took pitchers and are a really good lunch!! 

Zoe.Grace.Barding.Konecki

What I wrote in my journal was...

In the forest we saw a lot of spiders and all types of butterfly some were yellow some were red and brown. They were all beautiful.

In the Aquarian there were turtles, fish, worm rocks, eels, and,catfish.

There was a turtle that had a cut on its sell and they used honey to fix it.

One thing that I no-tested

I saw that the big fish swam on top of the water and the small fish swam on the bottom. They were all different colors and they all looked different witch I loved.

At Gumbo Limbo we saw lots of fish and other sea life. There was a turtle named Nebula who was lethargic and has gas bubbles in her backside so she floated and couldn't swim properly. There was also a turtle named Venus who was hit by a boat and lethargic and also had the same gas bubble problem. In the first tank we saw there was a turtle named Cane who was attacked by a shark and lost 60% of her flippers and got lots of wounds on her shell. In the fourth tank we saw there was a turtle named Morgan who had the gas bubble problem who was wearing a weight vest so she could swim properly.

When we went on the board walk there was lots of banana and golden silk spiders.

I learned that when a turtle has an injury on it's shell the workers at Gumbo Limbo put honey on their wounds to help the wounds heal.

When we went to go see the sea turtles who were injured we saw a lot of turtles who had a gas bubble problem and they couldn't swim properly.

Most attacks to turtles are caused by sharks, boat strikes, and fishing nets.

At Gumbo Limbo, we learned about what happened to the turtles there. A turtle at the rehabilitation center was hit by a boat, and now has to be balanced by a weight by the tail because of the gas bubbles accumulated in it's shell because of the boat strike in it's shell. There are also turtle hatchlings and tortoises in the rehabilitation center. The turtle hatchlings in the rehabilitation center were too weak to go to the ocean, so they were taken into rehab. The tortoises at Gumbo Limbo's rehab center are called Gopher Tortoises. The Gopher Tortoises are there because they are endangered. They are endangered because of humans destroying their homes.

We also went to the butterfly garden. There were lots of Golden Silk spiders and webs. Did you know that when sunlight hits their webs, they turn golden? That is why they are called Golden Silk spiders. There were also a wide variety of plants, for example, a Tropical sage.

There are many turtles at Gumbo Limbo, and the people working there help them recover.

If turtles shells get hit by a boat, then it's shell can accumulate gas bubbles and the turtle will tilt. If that happens, then the turtle will not be able to get air, because it has tilted.

When turtles get inured, Gumbo Limbo tries to help them. 

At Gumbo Limbo, I learned that putting honey on the shell helps their shells heal.

Gumbo Limbo Field Trip By: Mackenzie Warren

On Monday, October 14, we went to Gumbo Limbo. There were so many interesting things that I learned while I was there. The first place my group went to was the butterfly garden. Although this area is called a butterfly garden, I only saw Golden Silk Spiders and a few butterflies. Most of them were tiger swallowtails, or yellow butterflies. Then, we went to the fish tanks. Not only were there fish in the tanks, but there were also turtles. Cane is a female turtle who lost 60% of her fin. She also lost vision in her right eye. While i was talking to the volunteers, I learned that turtles live 80-100 years, and that they can hold their breath for 4-5 hours! The volunteers also explained that turtles come back to the same place they were born to lay their eggs. After that, we went to the turtle rehab area. I learned about all of the turtles living there, and how the got to Gumbo Limbo. There was one more turtle that really caught my interest. Morgan is another female turtle who wears a vest as a weight. She has gas bubbles on her rear end and has to were this vest to weigh it down. Overall, it was a great experience and I had lots of fun. Even though there were more spiders than I prefer, I learned so much and I can't wait to go back.

Name

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