If I Were an Ocean Creature, I'd Want to Be a Sea Turtle

Picture: a green sea turtle off the shore of Kona, Hawaii being cleaned by yellow tangs.

We visited the small but wonderful Albuquerque Aquarium a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed looking at the sharks and jelly fish, even the eels. But the sea turtles were my favorite!

I loved watching them float almost effortlessly in the water. They appear to be flying, using their rear flippers and tail to steer.

There are only seven species of sea turtles inhabiting all of the world's oceans except the Arctic. They spend all of their lives at sea except when females come ashore to lay their eggs on beaches, usually the same beaches they were hatched on.

Here is more information about sea turtles from a Florida State University web site:

"Sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles that spend most of their lives in the ocean. After hatching, male sea turtles spend their entire lives at sea. Female sea turtles must periodically return to sandy beaches to lay eggs. With a streamlined shell and large, paddle-like flippers, sea turtles are well-adapted to life at sea. However, these characteristics hinder the heavy females on land during the laborious nesting process. When the females awkwardly lumber ashore to nest, they are near-sighted and virtually defenseless. Depending upon the species, adult sea turtles can weigh between seventy-five and 2000 pounds, and the largest can reach a length of over eight feet. Sea turtles grow slowly and are believed to have a long life span."

At other sites I learned:

• They can stay underwater for up to three hours without surfacing to breathe if they are sleeping. When active, they usually surface every five to 15 minutes. (The sea turtle's nostrils are on top of its head, so that it won't have to stick its whole head out of the water to breathe.)
• Sea turtles cannot retract their heads and limbs into their shells, like land turtles can. Angry sharks can and do mame and kill sea turtles, though at the aquarium they shared a large tank peacefully.
• They enjoy eating jelly fish because they can't swim away.
• They have three sets of eyelids to help them see under water.
• They sleep in underwater caves and in the spaces between rocks.
• A female baby sea turtle leaves the nest and goes into the sea (attracted by the dancing light on the water surface), not to return to land for 20+ years when she will make a nest of her own. Male sea turtles never come ashore again, so less is known about them.
• The royal family of Tonga owned a sea turtle that survived (allegedly) from 1777 until 1965.
• The sea turtle symbolizes freedom, peace, patience, and wisdom.

One web site summarized fascination with sea turtles by stating:

"Like Mother Nature, the turtle is unhurried, wise, and enduring. She walks on land, swims in water, and breathes the air. She embodies three of the four elements of creation. We have much to learn from Turtle."

Do all people identify with animals like this?

What animals intrigue you?