Tag Archives: sea turtles

Do your part!

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plastic bags and sea turtles

Yeah, I was lazy today… I skipped my run.  It was just too hot and my heart wasn’t in it.  My heart, however, is alway in for a walk on the beach.  Today was no exception and it made me feel slightly less guilty about not running.

As I walked towards the staircase down to the beach, I saw a dispenser for plastic grocery bags, intended to encourage people to fill these bags with their garbage while at the beach.  I took one on a whim and decided to fill it as I walked to the inlet and back- my go-to 2 mile walk.

What I found was really surprising and disappointing.  Empty chip bags, Starbucks cups, Styrofoam, soda cans and plastic bottles… What is wrong with people?

Did you know what most adult sea turtles have plastic in their GI system?  Did you also know that plastic in the GI system of any sea creature causes them to feel bloated and full, resulting in them starving to death because they don’t feel the need to eat?  These facts sadden me and make me feel concerned when I see people leave remnants of their picnics all over the beach with complete disregard for their environment.

Imagine how clean our beaches would be if we all committed to picking up our own garbage and making a commitment to filling one small bag with the garbage we find each time with visit?!  Fun thought and maybe something that we can encourage our younger generations to get into the habit of doing.

Besides beach-combing for trash, I found some treasures which redeemed the evening, most notably a shark’s tooth!

Sea Turtle Nesting Season

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Mama Loggerhead laying her eggs

Some girls want to go to fancy restaurants for their birthday.  Some want a party.  Some want to go out dancing or for a girls’ night out. This girl… wanted to go see sea turtles lay eggs!  (Yes, I acknowledge that I am strange.)

A few of my loving friends begrudgingly accommodated my request and others were genuinely intrigued themselves. Gumbo Limbo Environmental Center in Boca Raton, Fl. offers guided tours of the beach to see Loggerhead mamas lay their eggs, preceded by a very informative lecture of turtles and how to save these endangered animals.

Seeing a turtle lay eggs is never guaranteed because nature cannot be predicted.  To top it all off, only loggerheads can be observed in the act because they are the least endangered of the 3 species that lay their eggs on our beaches (the other two being Green Turtles and Leatherbacks.)  Turtle Specialists scout the beaches from 9pm to midnight in hopes of finding one for onlookers to watch.  By 11pm I was convinced that we were not going to get lucky that night… but FINALLY we were called via walkie talkie to start heading North on the beach we were at to see a loggerhead who was about to start laying eggs close by.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) a Green Turtle walked out of the ocean right in front of our group as we headed towards the loggerhead.  We were instructed to sit quietly on the sand until she had dug her hole and began laying eggs herself or else we could spook her off the beach!  What an exhilarating night!

Finally, we made it to the loggerhead just as she was finishing up and were able to observe her packing sand on her eggs, turn around and head towards the ocean.  It was an amazing experience.  Not a bad way to begin my 34th year on this planet!

A Sign of Peace

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Sorry I have left you for so long,  my friends.  I have had so many amazing changes occur in my life and I’m excited to fill you in! I have a new career,  new amazing friends to share my life with and new goals to achieve.

I’ve continued to run and feel that I’ve gotten stronger.  This summer,  I have kept my schedule pretty regular.  I have treated myself to several recovery walks along the ocean afterwards and these pictures are from my greatest of discoveries while on one of these walks… a baby sea turtle making its way back to the ocean.

It’s brothers and sisters had left it much earlier in the day and it was stumbling around trying to figure out which way to go.  So precious and tiny!

When I posted this on Facebook,  a friend of mine informed me that turtles traditionally represent peace in one’s life.  How fitting that I should see this now.  I am happy and at peace… there are so many adventures to look forward to in the upcoming months.  I can’t wait to find my way to the ocean and experience the successes of all my efforts!