Adventure Aquarium exhibit aims to save endangered sea turtles
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- It's a more personal perspective at Camden's Adventure Aquarium, all meant to get visitors interested in saving sea turtles. The hands-on experience has people talking about conservation.
Sea turtles are threatened or endangered in the wild and the main culprit is human activity. This experience is meant to change that.
Here in the Ocean Realm, it's the sharks that usually elicit the most chatter from children. But recently, sea turtles are stealing the spotlight.
"This is one of my favorite encounters that we offer here," biologist Colleen McKeon said. "You get a different view. Instead of standing down below seeing them swim past, you get that top view of everything, which is really cool."
During the month of May, Adventure Aquarium is shell-a-brating these gentle giants with a unique sea turtle experience.
"We have Bob, Stitches and Old Green," McKeon said. "So we have our two green sea turtles and our loggerhead sea turtle."
Once a day, McKeon takes visitors to the water's edge for an up close and personal look.
"Stitches is definitely my favorite," McKeon said. "He just blows the cutest bubbles and then eats them. How can you top that?"
On this day, we tried to top it with a meal of fresh tomatoes and greens, including seaweed and algae.
"You just grab it, make sure most of that food is sticking out," McKeon said. "Take a nice bite and you let go."
And for Bob the loggerhead, a serving of shrimp.
At 31 years and 470 pounds, she's the oldest and largest sea turtle at the aquarium.
Not only do you get to feed the sea turtles, but you also get to brush them too. That not only cleans their shell but gives them a bit of a massage.
"Being able to be this close to such large and beautiful creatures is really awesome," Alicia Longo, the aquarium's collections, conservation and development coordinator, said. "And that inspires our guests to go out and talk to their friends and their family."
They're spreading the word about conservation and how to protect these animals and their habitat.
"All seven species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered in the wild," Longo said.
Plastic pollution in the ocean is a huge problem for sea turtles. They mistake plastic for food.
The difference between a jellyfish and a plastic bag is nearly indistinguishable.
"We want to look at ourselves and make sure we're improving our own practices," Longo said. "So, that means reducing your use of plastics, trying to cut out all single-use plastics, using reusable bags, reusable straws, reusable bottles and recycling other plastics as well."
Small steps to help keep sea turtles like Bob, Stitches and Old Green happy and healthy.
Tuesday is World Turtle Day, which is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue and began in 2000.