Cumberland Island museum is nest of turtle research

Web posted April 11, 1999

By Gordon Jackson
Morris News Service

CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Ga. -- Hidden at the north end of Cumberland Island, amid scrub oak trees draped with Spanish moss and gnarled pine trees bowed to the west by prevailing winds, lies a small group of seemingly insignificant wooden buildings.

The first indication that there may be something out of the ordinary on the property, less than half the size of a football field, is the dolphin skeletons hanging on the porches of two small wooden frame cabins with tin roofs.

The most significant structure, however, a culmination of more than 25 years of research, can only be identified by a small wooden sign tacked near the door, which identifies it as the Cumberland Island Museum.

It's not to be mistaken for a museum currently under construction in St. Marys by the National Park Service, emphasizes Carol Ruckdeschel and her research partner, C. Robert Shoop, a retired professor from the University of Rhode Island who specializes in amphibians and reptiles. The St. Marys museum will feature artifacts from Cumberland Island and will be open to the public.

But the Cumberland Island Museum is a place few people outside academic circles know about and even fewer people have visited, Ms. Ruckdeschel said.

``It's not a destination point,'' Ms. Ruckdeschel said of the museum. ``It's not just for the average person to see.''

But among those who study sea turtles, Ms. Ruckdeschel and Mr. Shoop have reached ``legend status'' on the Atlantic coast for their lifelong commitment to turtles, said Mark Dodd, turtle coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

``Carol has seen more turtle guts than anyone on the planet,'' Mr. Dodd said. ``The data they collect for us is invaluable.''

Mr. Dodd said he first learned about Ms. Ruckdeschel and Mr. Shoop while working for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources more than a decade ago through the couple's many published papers in academic journals and through other turtle researchers.

Ms. Ruckdeschel attended Georgia State University and Mr. Shoop earned his doctorate degree in zoology and botany at Tulane University.

The name identifying the building as a museum may be a misnomer to the average person -- it's probably more of storage house for museum-worthy items such as ones the couple has donated to the Smithsonian Institute and universities in California, Georgia and Rhode Island.

Inside the temperature- and humidity-controlled building, built by the couple, lie stacks of sea turtle shells, identified by the date and location where the turtle's body washed ashore.

But most of the items aren't displayed like they're in a conventional museum.

The important items -- skeletons, internal organs, skulls, stuffed rodents and snakes stored in jars filled with liquid preservatives -- are tucked away inside large metal cabinets or stored in banana boxes stacked to the ceiling.

``I don't know anyone who has a collection like that,'' said James Parham, a graduate student specializing in studying sea turtles at the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Parham said he has worked two summers at the museum conducting research and has taken specimens back to California to study. Some of the specimens will be on display at the university after the research is finished, Mr. Parham said.

He said most of the sea turtle exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute was donated by Ms. Ruckdeschel and Mr. Shoop.

Denis Davis, superintendent at Cumberland Island, said Mr. Shoop and Ms. Ruckdeschel provide a valuable service to the National Park Service by sharing their research of the island and its wildlife.

``They offer a unique perspective and offer a unique expertise,'' Mr. Davis said. ``I hope we can offer a positive working relationship with them.''

Mr. Shoop describes the museum as the ``ideal research facility'' because there are no distractions working in such an isolated environment.

They are funded by foundations and private individuals but often spend their own moey to support their research, Mr. Shoop said.

The couple said they add to their collection ``opportunistically'' by gathering anything of interest that washes ashore.

Ms. Ruckdeschel said she has examined more than 1,500 dead turtles since she moved to the island in 1973.

Last year, the couple said, was the worst since 1987 for turtle strandings in the state. On Cumberland, they examined 100 dead sea turtles. The majority -- 79 -- were loggerheads, followed by 17 Kemp's ridleys and three greens. They also said they recovered the first hawksbill turtle ever in the state of Georgia.

Cumberland Island has one of the highest turtle stranding rates in the world despite the mandatory use of turtle excluder devices on the nets of shrimping boats in state waters.

Mr. Shoop theorizes that excluder devices work well by giving the animals a way to escape shrimp trawler nets. But the same turtle may be caught several times in the same day by different trawlers, stressing the animal to death.

Turtles recovered by the couple are examined for cause of death, diet, gender and any other information that could be useful to protecting the species, Mr. Shoop said.

The shells and skeletons are set outside, where they are cleaned with the help of beetles and vultures that pick the flesh off the bones, Mr. Shoop said.

The couple is also trying to determine why turtles seem to be changing their feeding habits -- they are finding an unusually high percentage of clam shells in the turtle's digestive tracts, Mr. Shoop said.

Their findings will help turtle experts across the world ensure the survival of the endangered animals, Mr. Parham said.

``The Cumberland Island Museum is really a special place,'' he said. ``They salvage or at least look at every turtle that washes ashore. It's top notch.''