Volume 3 Issue 14

November 16, 2007

Lettitor
By Heather Holbrook

     Support your local businesses, especially this holiday season. That should be easy enough on two islands whose thriving communities always seem to look out for their own.
      Owning your own business is hard enough, as many of you know first hand. Mom and pop shops are practically extinct in American culture today with the rise of hyper-mart chains of excess dotting the landscape. While it is perfectly OK to target the wall to wall marts out there to do your shopping, there still lies a responsibility to support local businesses when you can. The little shops and restaurants, the galleries, the surf shops, the pubs. The newspaper.
      What? You mean local miniature media empires are not 100% self-sufficient? So goes a variation of the old joke “How do you make a small fortune in publishing? You start with a large fortune and the rest takes care of itself.”
      While The Island Eye News is gratified to continue to provide every islander with free readable news as it has for more than two years now, our current advertisers as well as the editor and publisher would be so appreciative if you the reader would continue to patronize us. Place an ad in our pages- an ad for your own business or a happy birthday Dad ad! Take your business to our advertisers on a regular basis! Tell them you saw their ad in our pages. This gentle reminder was brought to you by the US Postal Service who hands me a bill for $3,700 each time The Island Eye News is delivered to your mailbox.
      Every day we as consumers make the choice where to spend our dollars. This holiday season, keep your dollars close to home and let the bells on local cash registers ring.

Rehabilitated turtles return to the wild
By Beth Nathan

     “Cape Romain,” the South Carolina Aquarium’s second rehabilitated adult male loggerhead sea turtle and "Lady Lisa," a 65-pound rehabilitated juvenile female loggerhead were released on Saturday, November 3 on the Isle of Palms near the pier.
      "Cape Romain" was admitted to the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital on May 17, 2007, suffering from crab trap rope entanglement injuries which had cut deeply into the shoulder region of the front left flipper. The extensive flipper damage resulted in swelling, lack of circulation and major infection.  After intense treatments failed to reverse the damage, Aquarium staff members were faced with the decision to amputate the infected flipper. After five months of hospital care including IV fluids, radiographs, amputation surgery and treatments, antibiotics and pain medication, “Cape Romain” has made a complete recovery and is healthy and robust.
      Hospital staff are confident "Cape Romain" will adapt well in the wild with three flippers.  “Hundreds of sea turtles have been documented thriving in the ocean with missing limbs,” commented Kelly Thorvalson, Sea Turtle Rescue Program Coordinator.  “Thanks to Boatsafe Heaters support and financial contributions, this adult male loggerhead will be outfitted with a satellite transmitter to track his migrations after release, a collaborative project between the South Carolina Aquarium and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources  (SCDNR) Marine Turtle Conservation Program.”
     "Lady Lisa," admitted to the Sea Turtle Hospital on July 30, 2007, showed signs of Debilitated Turtle Syndrome (DTS) when she was caught during a SCDNR Marine Resources Division In-Water Study. Among the symptoms of DTS are anemia, emaciation and external parasites.  "Lady Lisa" was caught early in the disease and has made a quick and full recovery.  This juvenile turtle was also outfitted with a satellite transmitter allowing the public to follow both turtles on the web at www.scaquarium.org.

Beth Nathan is the public relations manager for the South Carolina Aquarium.

Sullivan’s Island Town Council Meeting
By Alyssa Caparaso