Wilbur in the wild: 250-pound sea turtle rescued from Tybee highway

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Wilbur was not supposed to be in the marsh off Highway 80. She was nowhere near home — just a 250-pound Loggerhead who took a wrong turn, finding herself in the middle of a long, exhausting journey back to the ocean.

The Tybee Island Marine Science Center shared Friday that a curator successfully helped rescue Wilbur after the sea turtle was found stranded along the Tybee roadway.

Last week, sea turtle project volunteer Tammy Smith reported the turtle in the marsh grass beside the trail along the highway. Located a long way from home and the ocean, the turtle desperately needed help to retrace its steps back to sea.

TIMSC curator Sarah Alley confirmed it was an adult female Loggerhead that crawled a long way into the marsh next to the South Channel of the Savannah River, about 0.8 miles down the trail from Forth Pulaski’s entrance.

Realizing she needed some extra helping hands, Alley reached out to biologists at the Department of Natural Resources in Brunswick. Considering the massive size of the sea turtle, backup was essential to a successful rescue.

“I decided to call her Wilbur because she was like a little marsh piggy, slapping her flippers in the mud when I got there,” Alley said.

As the biologists began their journey driving to Wilbur, Alley said her main priorities were keeping the turtle cooled off until their arrival. She used water, wet towels and even a beach umbrella to shade the new friend.

Alley ended up sitting with Wilbur for three hours, all the while making sure the lost loggerhead was calm, cool and collected. Fortunately, the turtle showed no signs of external injury and was very strong and large, according to Alley.

When Mark Dodd and Blake Marin with the Department of Natural Resources, a Fort Pulaski ranger, TIMSC educator Kayleigh and Sarah’s partner Chris arrived, the team maneuvered Wilbur into a large Velcro sling, out of the marsh and onto an ATV to take her to the department’s truck.

After just a short ride to the Gulick Street area of North Beach, Wilbur found herself back in her natural habitat, with the ocean water beckoning her home as she was safely released back to the sea.

TIMSC said in a Facebook post that Wilbur did not have any tags when they found her, and the group decided not to place any after the intense day she had in an unfamiliar environment.

During their time together, Alley took two successful measurements of Wilbur, which recorded a shell 3.2 feet long and an estimated weight of at least 250 pounds.

During her side quest to Highway 80, Wilbur also laid a single egg. Alley said the egg was likely laid out of stress, but the Department of Natural Resources collected it for genetic testing through an ongoing study at the University of Georgia. They hope to learn more information about this mighty turtle in the future.

In the meantime, TIMSC wished Wilbur happy swimming and a safe nest on Tybee’s beach.