Category: Turtles
-
The sea turtles I saw at the Gulf World facility were young Kemp's ridleys, a critically endangered species. They were three to five years old, roughly as long as footballs. They had been minding their chelonian business out in the middle of the Gulf, 30 to 80 miles from land, sculling around in the Sargassum…
-
It seemed like a grave ceremony at a turtle temple. A silent line of identically-dressed people lifted turtles from tanks one at a time. Each turtle was carried in the same ritual position and taken through the same stations. A wand was waved over each turtle. Quiet words were murmured. Inscriptions were made. Tags were…
-
One day I saw a giant sea turtle bite my sister. We were snorkeling in Hawaii and were suddenly in the midst of a number of turtles. They were feeding on seaweed. I looked over at my sister, and saw her beaming at a turtle from a respectful distance. Unnoticed by her, another turtle had…
-
It was sad about the Arakan forest turtle (Heosemys depressa). It hadn't been seen since 1908, when a British officer in Myanmar (then Burma) found all of one specimens. Clearly extinct. Farewell, small drab turtle. However, in 1994, “conservationists found a few specimens in a food market in China.” Not extinct. This is the easiest…
-
As far as we know there are fewer than half a dozen Yangtze giant soft-shelled turtles left in the world and only one is female. The Yangtze giants (Rafetus swinhoei) are hard to overlook, since they get to be more than a yard long and can weigh a couple of hundred pounds. That means they've…
-
I came across the story of the most endangered turtle in the world while researching the question of whether “worm stomping” in Wood Turtles is a cultural behavior. (Alas, no.) In Ronald Orenstein's Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor (2001), I read of Aspideretes nigricans (formerly Trionyx nigricans), the Black Softshell turtle, or Bastami…
Site Title 