To kick off 2012 and get you excited for the opening of TurtleTrek at SeaWorld Orlando this spring, we wanted to focus on turtles for this week’s Species Spotlight. A one-of-a-kind 3-D/360-degree movie is only part of TurtleTrek’s allure.

Meet Clyde….not the silly sea lion that you’re all familiar with, but Clyde the Asian water monitor (also known as a Malayan water monitor). You can see him at SeaWorld San Diego’s Animal Connections, where trainers occasionally walk him around for guests to meet up-close.

It was 5:00 a.m. when we left to visit our third school. We drove an hour to the Wildlife Refuge of Chaconcente, and then after breakfast, set off on a three hour horseback ride and walk to the beach. I have never been horseback-riding, much less through a forest, but today I saw and heard creatures that I really did not want to see. There were wild bulls that were ready to attack our horses at any time, spiders, snakes and pretty much anything else you can imagine that would be living in the wild! After about an hour we made it the beach.

Today, we met very early to pack the truck and head out to El Astillero community. It took us almost four hours to get there.

Our first stop was to collaborate with youth volunteers that come from homes in which the parents used to poach sea turtles, and sell and eat their eggs. These teens now come and share their experiences with the children at the schools in order to make a difference in sea turtle conservation. FFI is working with families in these communities by helping them find other alternatives for work.

Since 2003, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has helped over 500 projects around the world with Species Research, Habitat Protection, Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation and Conservation Education. My name is Yaritza Aponte and I have been selected as an ambassador for the Fund to travel to Nicaragua and work with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) to help educate locals on the importance of conserving the Sea Turtles.

The pilot whale is a high-flying member of the dolphin family and can be seen making audiences smile during the spectacular “Blue Horizons” show at SeaWorld San Diego, alongside Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

East African Crowned Cranes are large, long-legged birds with straight bills, long necks and a golden feathery “crown” protruding from the back of the head. They are very social birds -- numbering up to 100 in one flock -- and known for elaborate mating displays.

Deforestation has affected our world in many ways. Most of us are now aware of its role in global warming and how it affects our world as a whole – but few think about its impact on even the smallest of creatures. In the dry lowland rainforests of Sumatra, six Sumatran hornbill species have been designated as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN Red List due to the loss of their forest habitat.

In mid-April, a local resident found a great egret chick on the ground and brought it to SeaWorld’s animal care team for help. SeaWorld’s aviculturists have seen cases like this before and speculated that the chick probably fell from its nest.

Another sea turtle life saved!! A 250-pound green sea turtle with serious injuries is on the road to recovery after receiving life-saving medical treatment at our SeaWorld San Diego’s Animal Care Complex. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrative (NOAA) brought the adult male, named Bruce, to us Jan. 25. NOAA researchers spotted the animal breathing slowly, lethargic and pretty much non-responsive during a routine turtle survey in San Diego’s South Bay.