Day 2: Plastrons and Plastics

6:30 - 7:30 - The house (slowly) rose with the sun, excited to start a new day! With the coffee and the chilly weather, we were ready to go to the hospital again.

7:45ish - 12 - The sick bay group (Rhea, Nicku, Katie, and Brian) all got to help out in sick bay today. After washing all the tubs out, they all worked together to wash down Dunebug while working on their turtle whisperer skills. The turtle bay crew adjusted to the new set of volunteers wonderfully, getting to see some new treatments along the way. They rushed turtles to and fro for weighing, watched Snooki get a cold laser treatment (though not really because the laser can damage your eyes), and saw Pumba get physical therapy on his rear flippers. Everyone got their workout in with the sweeping, mopping, and other super fun cleaning activities. Overall, a very fun and educational day at the hospital.
12 - 1:30 - After a quick lunch at the hospital, we headed over to University of North Carolina Wilmington to watch a turtle necropsy. While driving over, the minivans encountered each other at a stoplight and a Cheez-It war commenced. This was later continued while waiting for the procedure to start. Donald also attempted to mate with a goose but he was rejected (pictured below).

1:30 - 3:30 - We met up with Sarah and other UNCW students to watch the necropsy. The turtle we were studying was a juvenile green sea turtle that was accidentally captured. Sarah showed us the various parts of a turtle and concluded that it was relatively healthy until its capture. As you can see, the students found the necropsy just a little bit interesting.

3:30 - 6 - After an exciting ride home (with a small detour for candy), everyone came back and relaxed/worked on homework for a few hours before dinner.
6 - 8 - Dinner was cooked by Brian and Elizabeth. They set up a personalized pizza bagel assembly line that blew the minds of college students everywhere. The gourmet quality food was consumed while viewing the documentary Bag It. The film described the environmental and physiological impacts of plastics, ranging from oceanic pollution to developmental defects.
8 - 10 - Reflection time! We discussed the film, touching on privilege, sustainability, and their subsequent relationship. We also talked about the intent behind some of the cinematographic choices and the important of communication in environmental conservation efforts. More than anything else, we were especially excited about the concrete ways that the film offered on how to be more sustainable, so we'd like to share them with all of you!

1. Reusable water bottles - preferably metal :)
2. Cloth grocery bags - you can make your own produce bags too! We found this one link that looked promising: https://wellnessmama.com/119222/diy-produce-bags/
3. Bringing your own coffee cups to Starbucks/other coffee shops.
4. LIVING SIMPLY! Buy only what you need.
5. Before recycling, we can reduce and reuse. As Jean said, if you have to get plastic, re-use it as many times as you can!
6. Volunteer in local beach clean-ups.

Thank you and good night!
Monica and Rhea :)