YES, WE WOULD RATHER BE SAILING....................

By now you must be thinking........ what's this thing they've got about mailboxes and sea-turtles. Were they deprived of 'ninja turtles' as kids.........No, not really. When we do our beach walks along an incredibly still Ocean edge, you can't help but wonder how the turtles go all the way around the Atlantic basin, as far Europe, only to return to the same beaches in Florida, to lay their eggs. We met another "Sea-turtle Conservationist" on his ATV who enlightened us no end. Too many facts to remember but some things stood out. The female sea-turtles are able to lay a number of clutches of eggs in the same season, by retaining sperm from different males.............who knew?..... Drop a load, swim some more and let the next batch develop, then drop some more. Quite a factory............. Some sea-turtle species do this from 5 to 7 times, a season. The survival rate of the eggs is small, even within the sand. That dedicated conservationist on the right is Mr. Rick Herren, whose research group "www.inwater.org", provided some of the sea-turtle photographs below. After each hatching, he excavates the nest to count the eggs and determine the survival rate. In this nest of some 120 eggs, 70 made it, though not neccesarily to the sea. By law, all beach-front homes are prevented from having bright white lights showing at night. Nevertheless some young-uns still go in that direction......(perhaps, someone was playing really great music)................ The nest has to receive oxygen through the sand. If the waves stay over the sand for an extended period, the eggs all die from oxygen deprivation. Even if you make it to the water as a female, you have to make it for about thirty years before you are mature enough to do the egg-laying thing.......... That's a long time to remember how to get back to that beach....... Sea turtles, depending on species, live to be 80 years or more and by then you've eaten a lot of jelly-fish, crustaceans or sea-weed, their main diet, depending on species. Thanks to people like Rick, we get to understand their fragile existence................and the need to be careful. This month (September 2009) marks the passing of a new law in the Bahamas which makes it illegal to catch or kill a sea-turtle. by the way, Laurie is holding a golf-ball she found, not a sea-turtle egg.................



O.K................ These people are the researchers, doing investigative stuff and tagging, including catching one in a net to bring him/her on board, only temporarily. Their findings help communities develop sensible strategies for protecting shorelines and habitats. For those of us fortunate enough to see the little ones emerging from the sand, after midnight and struggle to the Ocean, it is a life-long memory. ........... "So, tell me again Junior, you say you're off to find your Dad?"..................,



We have enough drag when just a few barnacles grow on "ARITA's" hull. You have to feel sorry for this global traveller seeing what he/she is carrying.



We passed these two palm trees on our walks. Who knew, that when those prong-like things explode, they would reveal such intricate lattice work, leading to the mass of date-like seed pods. Our motto of "IN SEARCH OF PALMS" continues.



Saw this little sea-side shack as we walked along the beach (do a double-click)....................Wonder who does the window cleaning?



Found this volcanic rock that really looked like a piece of worm-eaten driftwood, whose gaseous inclusions have been removed by years in the ocean. Being volcanic, we can only guess where it came from. Definitely not Florida or the Bahamas. Nice rock, nice hand....... great leg.............




I have a daughter, Celia, living in Darwin at "THE TOP END" of Australia, whose fascination and hobby has always been BEADS. Couldn't help but take this picture as we walked through the department store "Michaels". That's like being in a gigantic candy store..........We were there to get some necklace material for converting the lava stone to something to hang on your neck and stay "Ocean-connected". Of course, someone is bound to ask "What the heck is that?"......... What a wonderful way to start a conversation........................ about endangered sea-turtles and the dedicated researchers, like Rick Herren and his buddies..........................and the wonders of sea-turtle migration........................