give the turtles a break

On Sat. I taught a sandcastle lesson to some nice people staying at the Comfort Inn Suites. During the course of a lesson, a little girl ran up to a woman sitting near by to excitedly report she had seen a turtle. Mom was skeptical, but then dad walked over and told her that he too had seen the turtle, that he had attempted to grab it and that it had then swam off.

I quickly but politely informed the gentleman that he shouldn’t ought to have done that, that the turtle was probably attempting to come ashore to lay her eggs. But what I really wanted to scream was “You #$%^&* numbskull! If you weren’t such an idiot, right now we might very likely be witnessing something most people never get to see -- a member of an endangered species laying her eggs!”

I hope most people who come here have the good sense to leave a wild creature in its native habitat alone to do what she needs to do, but just in case it bears repeating -- if you see a turtle anywhere near the beach, LEAVE IT ALONE!“

On a happier but related note, our beloved ”Turtle Lady“ has had a Kemps ridley named after her! Read all about Ila the sea turtle.