Save the Turtle!

Happy Valentines Day!  This post has absolutely nothing to do with Valentines Day, but I felt I needed to say that anyway.

We recently took a break from the Red Farmhouse, which was surrounded by a blanket of snow, to go visit my Mom in Florida. There was no snow there. It was warm. And sunny. We went to the beach every day, usually in the morning to walk and hunt for seashells.

On one afternoon, my son Daniel (my Critter-loving Biology Boy) was alone at the beach when he came across a sea turtle floundering in the water near the shore.

This poor little guy was so weak, he couldn't even roll over when the waves knocked him on his back.  So my son called me and asked what he should do?
After a quick search on the web, and a few phone calls, I located the Marine Lab that was responsible for turtle rescues in that area.  They asked Daniel to stay with the turtle until help could arrive, keeping it on the shore, and keeping it wet. So my wonderful kid babysat that turtle for about 90 minutes. (Awww...)

A crowd gathered.  People were giving all kinds of differing opinions about what he should do, some even suggesting it was illegal to touch the turtle.  But Daniel just politely replied that he was doing as he had been told.  I was able to get there just ahead of the rescue crew.  They showed up on two four-wheelers: 2 volunteers and one Marine Biologist named Marcus.  Marcus assured Daniel that he had done exactly the right thing.

They identified the turtle as a critically endangered species known as Kemps Ridley.  A local phenomenon called Red Tide was causing distress in the turtle population.  They thought the turtle had a good chance of survival after some rehab at a marine lab.
They wrapped the turtle up in a damp towel and took off on their beach quads.

We left the beach hoping that "our" turtle would be OK.  The man at the parking ramp said that he heard the turtle had died while they were transporting it. I hope he was wrong, but even if he was right, I'm proud of Daniel's effort to save an endangered animal. 

This was actually not our first involvement in a sea turtle rescue effort, but I'll save that story for another time...