WE FOUND THE SEA-TURTLES....................

The sea turtles have come ashore much further than we had anticipated. This species know as "FIBREGLASITIS- SUBURBIA" comes in various colours which tend to fade after four to five years. They are very, very slow to move, and generally found on street corners and in parks. The specimen on the lower right is the "Farmer" variety and truly endangered. There are so few farmers left. You have to double-click on all of them to see the intricacy of the design on their shells, and notice the absence of sea slime, barnacles and algae. They appear to be immune to sunlight, onlookers, traffic and pollution. Nothing short of remarkable............. If only Charles Darwin was still around to see this species ...............



A sea-cow, known in Florida as a Manatee (known in Australia as a Dugong), stopped by to do a little feeding on ARITA's hull. We have accumulated considerable algae ourselves, from being in the hot tropical waters of Florida and the Bahamas. He became quite thirsty after a good feeding session, so we gave him a drink of refreshing water. A couple of winks from his beady eyes indicated that we should " bring it on ". He drank plenty....................



They blend in perfectly with the water colour and become hard to see and even harder to spot when travelling by boat. This one had scars on his tail fin from being hit by propellors. Manatees, too, are endangered and protection zones and go-slow areas exist everywhere in Florida's shallow waters. A few hours later, another manatee appeared, and they began a Gypsey two-step and a Vienna Waltz. Suddenly there was nothing slow about either of them............................. kept dancing for at least three hours................................Sorry, nothing for the Press.