Dawn - five minutes after six in the morning |
In the dark of the night Teresa had mistakenly stepped off a rocky ledge,
landing hard on the beach below. She
knew she was in trouble, big trouble.
Dawn was breaking and soon the hot tropical sun would bake against her body
slowly killing her if the lack of oxygen didn’t do her in first. If she could just get one decent breath of
air, perhaps she could survive a bit longer. Just a little bit longer.
A noise! She heard a noise that
sounded like two voices with a background of sharp and excited yips. Trembling with fear Teresa again futilely twitched
her limbs.
Turtle hole at top right of photo - she flipped over here |
“Oh god, she alive!” shouted a voice.
“Awesome”, I exclaimed, “let’s flip her over!”
“How the heck to you flip a large turtle?” asked my neighbour Amy, with a
bemused smile on her face.
“Carefully, very carefully!” I
laughed, set my camera down on the rocky outcropping, and ran to one side of
the turtle.
Shaking her head at the absurdity of the situation Amy released the leash
of her young puppy Bosch and joined me.
“Okay,” she said, “on three. One,
two, three!” And we flipped a large,
heavy Loggerhead turtle right-side up.
With a flurry of splashing flippers Teresa
the Tortuga struggled to turn around – paddling, pushing, soaking both Amy
and I with a slurry of seawater and sand.
We were euphoric; laughing and shouting happily when the turtle managed to
speed off into the deeper water, and away from her night of torment and terror.
I had mistakenly put my camera too far
out of reach, and by the time I grabbed it and pointed at the fleeing tortuga
she had gone. Damn! The three dogs, Amy’s two dogs Bowser and
Bosch, and Sparky were very quiet. They stared
at the departing creature unable to comprehend how it would swim out that far, that
fast.
Tortuga flipping is not my normal routine at five minutes before dawn. Sparky and I usually do his first walk of the
day at half-past six along the sidewalk to the gas station and back, fifteen or
twenty minutes tops and then it’s time for morning coffee.
This morning I woke up at half-past five and decided to head out early. Because it is turtle nesting season I tucked a small camera into my pocket, hoping maybe, just maybe I would get lucky with photos of a mama turtle laying eggs.
Different tortuga - Gaspar helping her dig a deeper hole |
Teresa the Tortuga - swimming fast to freedom |
This morning I woke up at half-past five and decided to head out early. Because it is turtle nesting season I tucked a small camera into my pocket, hoping maybe, just maybe I would get lucky with photos of a mama turtle laying eggs.
Tortuga dug this up - looking for the perfect spot |
From mid-May to October the female turtles typically arrive after sunset
and search for a deep stretch of sand, digging one, two or even three test
holes before settling on a location and depositing over a hundred eggs.
The turtles are normally gone well before dawn, however, occasionally a female will still be laying eggs at sunrise having spent too long searching for a perfect nesting site during the night.
The turtles are normally gone well before dawn, however, occasionally a female will still be laying eggs at sunrise having spent too long searching for a perfect nesting site during the night.
A bucket full of baby turtles about to be released |
Wet and sandy Turtle Flipper |
As Amy and I stood discussing how sad it was to see a dead turtle, and
wondering if she had been hit by a boat propeller the turtle twitched her
flippers. And that’s when the fun
started. By the time Teresa the Tortuga had successfully swum
away our laughter had alerted Amy’s husband Luis that something was up. He popped out onto their patio for a look,
but the excitement was over.
This is not the first time that one of our neighbours has righted an up-side-down tortuga.
We can only hope that Teresa the Tortuga survives to return, again and again, to this beach.
But, she will likely have an aversion to that particular stretch of sand
where she back-flipped off a rocky ledge onto the sand below.
This is not the first time that one of our neighbours has righted an up-side-down tortuga.
We can only hope that Teresa the Tortuga survives to return, again and again, to this beach.
Sea Turtles mating |
While she was struggling to survive, her mate was probably drifting
off-shore at south point wondering where she was, and why his breakfast was
late.
Hasta Luego
Lynda & Lawrie