Not too long ago, I encountered a turtle with a horrid, long foxtail stuck in its neck. It took me over an hour of waiting for the turtle to stick its head out of its shell (retreating after my first attempt of removal) so I could extricate the painful thing from the poor creature. Of course I'm not sure if this is the same turtle, but I like to think it is the same one. He or she let me take a photo of that smile. Turtles, like elephants, have long memories.
The moral of this story: Be kind, and you will always be rewarded, one way or another ;)
THANK YOU TO THE GEORGIA SEA TURTLE CENTER (
Willow13)
This is Night Watch, a sub-adult Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She was anemic and had a virus when she came to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to be treated. Now she is well and returning to her ocean home. She delighted the crowd when she took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air and opened her mouth real wide in what seemed to be a great big belly laugh :D
Information from the www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org site ---
Enjoying the first sunny day in several days! (
Craiglowry25)
I took this photo with a 500mm lens. This common snapper was very far away. The really was as large as he looks. This photo is not a crop!
This
little guy was on my road, attempting to get to the tidal river near by. I helped him to safety. About 3 inches long, he may have been a
layover for the winter from a hatching last year.
Dylan is a nine year old Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) living at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. When the water warms up this Spring, Dylan will be released to her ocean home.
Another exciting release of endangered Kemp's ridleys sea turtles today! Magnificent little creatures. A really great thing is that we had media attend the release! Every bit of education is a boon to their survival!
Making eye contact with a sea turtle is awesome! It's so amazing, it makes me speechless!
This is Dylan chasing her block of ice. Inside the ice Dylan knows she will find yummy Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle food! Dylan is learning to be a wild sea turtle. This way of feeding challenges and exercises her as she chases the ice around her tank. Dylan also eats live crabs which are a natural part of a loggerhead's diet. When Dylan is released next year she will be well prepared for life on her own in the Big Blue :)
We have a cookbook we published to help raise the funds to care for these magnificent animals. It's called, Jekyll Island's Treasured Recipes, Cooking for Caretta caretta. If you go to this website,
www.cookbooksforsale.com/displayCookbook.php?id=63760 you will find links to a wealth of information about the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and all the wonderful turtles in our care. Be sure and go to the blog www.gstc.blogspot.com to get all the latest information on our new arrivals - 5 young Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and 2 young Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) - the most endangered of all the sea turle species. The 7 young sea turtles were rescued after being "cold-stunned" and stranded up north. They arrived at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center yesterday!
This is one of the Green sea turtles getting it's first examination by our Director of Veterinary Services, Terry Norton, DVM. Erika, our Hospital Coordinator, is holding one of seven rescued "cold-stunned" sea turtles. Notice our outdoor pavilion is wrapped in plastic to hold in the heat. Even in SE Georgia the temperatures can get too cold at night for these young turtles. Unfortunately, these young turtles experienced weather conditions this year that carried them away from the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately, they were rescued and will recover at the new Georgia Sea Turtle Center and will be released as soon the weather permits. Go to georgiaseaturtlecenter.org to learn more about the 2 Kemp's ridley, and 5 Green sea turtles rescued. Kemp's ridley is the most endangered of all the sea turtle species!
I want to share Tidelands 4-H Nature Center's very interesting comment about Joey ;)
"Dorothy, this one is my favorite of all your wonderful pictures -- and it really shows how chubby Joey was getting! I'll remember Joey as "the turtle who would eat ANYTHING".
Live shrimp, live blue crabs, live whelks, even horseshoe crabs! Fish like spot and croaker didn't stand a chance with Joey -- Joey even tried to eat a 2-foot long Emperor Snapper and would have succeeded if we hadn't gotten the snapper out!
I'm hoping this means Joey is fully prepared for life in the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet we call the Atlantic Ocean."
We call these mud turtles but I could be wrong. I didn't realize there were so many variations of mud turtle. This lady was twice the size of any I've seen but they are usually in the muckiest part of the swamp with just the tip of the nose out of the water so difficult to see. The odds are some varmint will find the eggs before they hatch.
...the turtles wouldn't come out of the water,so I zoomed in close for a mug shot,maybe a little too close? The turtles are in the murky wetlands of Sugar Hollow Park.
Enjoying the sun on a beautiful day in Chicago
Joey is a seven year old Loggerhead sea turtle, a "straggler hatchling" who was rescued. Joey has been living at Tidelands 4-H Nature Center on Jekyll Island and is finally getting to go home to the Big Blue Ocean. Farewell, Joey. Be safe and please stay away from boats.
Joey is a seven year old Loggerhead sea turtle, a "straggler hatchling" who was rescued. Joey has been living at Tidelands 4-H Nature Center on Jekyll Island and is finally getting to go home to the Big Blue Ocean. Farewell, Joey. Be safe and please stay away from boats.
While out walking this morning, I noticed this turtle that had just crossed a busy road and was laying on the boulevard, basking in the sun. There is a stormwater retention pond close by that it was probably heading back to... A gentleman that was passing by tried to pick it up and move it away from the road but the turtle quickly moved it's jaw halfway around the shell and tried to bite him..The Common Snapping Turtle is an aggressive, freshwater turtle usually found in ponds, streams, and canals. It spends most of its life in the water. These nocturnal (active at night) turtles live in eastern North America. Snapping turtles are so fearless that they have been known to attack people. Snapping turtles have an average life span of about 30-40 years. Anatomy: The Common Snapping Turtle has powerful jaws, a sharp beak, and no teeth. It has a long tail, and each webbed foot has five clawed toes. This turtle, like all turtles, has no vocal cords and can only make hissing and grunting sounds. It grows to be up to 18.5 inches (47 cm) long and weighs up to about 85 pounds (38.5 kg). Male snapping turtles are larger than the females. The color of the shell ranges from brown to olive green to black to tan. The color of its skin also varies and can be gray, brown, yellow, tan, or black. Diet: Snapping Turtles are omnivores; they eat plants, small fish, frogs, insects, snakes, and even dead animals that they find (carrion).
Have fun exploring the ocean and if you catch a 2-foot long Emperor Snapper, you get to keep it this time!
Perched on his log absorbing the rays!
This photo was taken at the southern end of Okinawa near Odo Coast.
This got a little personal for the turtle...shot through a dirty window...sorry
guarding the nest. The Florida Redbelly turtles have been know to share a nest occupied by gator eggs. Quite a symbiotic relationship.
Florida gofer turtle out for a bite to eat.
Turtles sunning themselves at the Morikami Gardens.
This gator was laying across a log that is normally occupied by turtles. This turtle was simply laying claim to his favorite spot.
A red-eared Slider facing the camera. :)
Snowy Egret trying to get the advantage while standing on the top of a turtle at Wakodahatchee Wetlands.
This fashionably colored turtle is a hatchling Florida soft-shelled turtle. It really caught my attention because I had never seen a turtle shell this color, nor one this young. They have soft lips which cover very strong jaws. They are powerful swimmers and can also run on land with speed and agility. In the water, they pursue and catch fish. Their shell is soft, leathery, and pliable. All softshell turtles have long tubular snouts which allow them to snorkel, breathing underwater by raising their long necks to the surface. This enables the turtle to stay hidden underwater for long periods. In addition, softshell turtles buried in the mud on a lake botton and waiting for prey can breathe by raising their heads out of the mud and pumping water in and out of their throats. Skin folds in the throat are rich in blood and capable of exchanging gases. This turtle is often seen crossing roads, but potential rescuers should be very careful. It can bite and claw ferociously. Their scientific name includes ferox,, which is Latin for wild and ferocious. Pick it up with a net preferably, otherwise, clasp the rear edge of the shell with both hands if it is not too slippery to hold. This baby was so small, though, it would fit in the palm of your hand, but I'm not sure I'd even want to hold one!
Common Snapping Turtle...maybe a nesting female? It is that time of year!
messing with me for....seems to be what this guy might be saying, lol, just gotta get a pic.
This is the turtle who was hiding in the murky water. He was eyeballing me, probably waiting for food, but I didn't have any to give him.
I used a CPL filter to cut whatever glare I could, but the angle of incident light made it difficult to filter out much, as can be seen. The pic is slightly cropped, and contrast-enhanced to bring out some detail, as he was barely visible even in person.
All secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That’s in the nature of secrets.
— Cory Doctorow
Can you believe how she wiggles her fanny when she paddles? And look at him! You'd think he owns that log, sitting like a peacock... and those terrapin triplets, terrors all three! You'd think Tillie and Tybalt would use a firm hand with those youngsters! And then...
My dog sniffed out this Snapping turtle on a trail. Luckily she didn't get snapped!
A submerged turtle decided to surface and study me for a while, while I was studying him in return.
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting — a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm just trying to cross the road, get that camera outta my face. LOL, that is what it looked like this Box Turtle is thinking.
A turtle poses with a funny face.
a Japanese Water Garden inside the Butterfly Farm held several surprises..namely turtles!! and lots of them..from quite large to quite small they were all very tame and very curious..this one stuck his nose in the air and literally 'huffed' at me when I put the lens in his face..so funny!!
Taking in the sun’s rays…
Give me the splendid, silent sun,
with all his beams full dazzling.
— Walt Whitman
What has been will be again... (
BoazR)
Dad stays busy cruising the pond while Mom sits on the nest.
These turtles have always been extremely shy, but this one didn't want to give up it's warm spot and let me drift to 3 ft from it.
I took this picture in the Chesapeake Bay 4 miles west of the CBBT. This turtles head was larger then a basket ball
This turtle lives in my son's backyard. They call him Stumpy because he's missing part of his front leg. A coyote may have gotten to it before he pulled it safely into his shell. He seems to be getting around just fine without it. Btw, we saw a coyote run by checking out the backyard. Wish I had my camera in hand at the time. He was trotting pretty fast.
Doing a teeter totter on his tummy ... nope ... just stretched out that way for as long as I watched him.
You have to be as patient as a turtle to get a shot of them. There are a few painted turtles in the lake.
Azaleas watercolor the water's edge.
I was just throwing some crackers onto the water for a few geese and ducks to peck at, and noticed some pieces just disappearing with a blub.
Finally spotted the culprit when he came up for air, and started eyeballing me.
Not as pretty and colorful as the other in the series, this I think is a female. I read where the male is more colorful and has either red or orange eyes and the female not so much color and brown or pale yellow eyes.
My first time to see a wild (painted) turtle laying eggs, and in my yard! My dog, who still lives in her "dogck house" on the dock, was totally uninterested (her leash appears in some shots) and the turtle did not seem to be worried about her either. This was the first of the seven eggs I saw her laying, but I cannot tell if she had laid more eggs before I spotted her, totally by accident. I was in awe the entire time!
Last of the seven eggs I saw her laying. I was much closer to her, almost above. It was quite interesting that her head would be totally tucked in and that she shook more (my 1/80 shutter was not enough to avoid some blur) when laying the last eggs.
She buries the last egg. She looked like to be a "right-footed" turtle. She would keep the left leg stationary for support and move the right leg for the job and also for leveling the ground. It was getting dark and the last light fades across her.
Last touch by covering the spot with dried twigs and leaves. She would just pivot from her head to gather the debris. When she finished, you could not tell where she laid eggs. It was 7:50 pm and, unfortunately, I had to resort to flash for the shots.
I thought it was so funny that she took the stone pathway to the dock to get back to the lake. Look how close she laid her eggs (dog's leash on the left bottom corner) to the pathway. From shot I to V it was 38 minutes.
can't you reach over here and brush this bug off my nose?
on the move today (safe to move out or road... in direction they're headed); breeding begins, age of 10-15 yrs., 9". In captivity live 75 years. "Keystone" species; 360 other species survival dependent upon their burrows, usually 30' long, nearly 10' deep. Threatened: loss of habitat and low reproductive rate.
Storming The Beach… In Slow-Motion (
Clabo)
A Sneaky Turtle™ hits the beach…
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Ladder Of St. Augustine”
All underwater photos taken with a Nikon Coolpix AW100. We found a lagoon with five Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles and we have visited everyday. We have fantastic video too but way too much. It needs to be edited and made into one film.
All underwater photos taken with a Nikon Coolpix AW100. We found a lagoon with five Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles and we have visited everyday. We have fantastic video too but way too much. It needs to be edited and made into one film.
unintentionally snagged while fishing. (no injury). These turtles in saltwater throughout the world. Their status somewhat improved due to escapable fishing nets, but continue to be threatened due to loss of suitable nesting beaches. and archaic fishing nets.
Page: 1 — Blog Index
For the Turtles,
Dorothy
Dorothy Lane Carswell, Writer/Editor
Jekyll Island's Treasured Recipes
Cooking for Caretta caretta
http://www.cookbooksforsale.com/displayCookbook.php?id=63760 -Please click to keep us #1
http://www.seaturtle.org/books/new/ Our cookbook featured :)
Richard Caton, Cover Art and Illustrations
Benjamin Lane Carswell, Foreword
Matthew Lamar Carswell, WebPage
Recipe Contributors from all over the World!
I had to dig you out - I meant to comment when you first posted the pics. It's so nice to see them again. I hope Dylan and all his friends are doing well. Have any more been released, or will it be next spring and summer now before that happens?
I heard there were several clutches of eggs found on Padres Island this year. I hope they did well. We were so dry here this summer I didn't see the number roaming around I usually do - but we're making up for it now, rainwise. If I were a turtle, I think I'd be happy!
Thanks!
I dont understand!
If the turtle ate the fox!
Why would you think the turtle would not want to eat the tail as soon as he could swallow it.
And how big was this turtle to be able to swallow a fox?
HeHeHeHe
Love the great pics of turtles :0)
& Now I'm kinda thinking.. hhmm keep them in the living room. Thanks Auburn ..lol.
You can find Henry here.
LOL I had forgotten all about this :D Thanks for the laugh!!! In case anyone is wondering, the answer to this riddle is in the caption on the first turtle photo in this series ;)
You're right! The turtle releases will begin again next Spring of 2010.
Dylan hasn't "called home" in 6 months :(
I sure miss her ♥
Over 1500 sea turtles have stranded in Brevard county from the cold.
In the panhandle of Florida on the Gulf south of Tallahassee approx 600 sea turtles...dead from the cold.
It's heartbreaking :-(
I've thought about you during this cold snap. I read about the problems the turtles were having - so terribly sad. I think I read the weather is turning some - I hope those waters warm soon.
My friend Henry who lives in Wales has just come out of hibernation and is living the high life, munching on lettuce leaves in the warmth of a low-intensity lamp. Amazing to think he and his owner have been together for 25 years!
I am so distressed with the weather we had... bad enough the turtle has to deal with man's impact..... I'm really bummed Ma Nature's hand was soooo cold this winter.
Thanks to all who have are involved with TURTLE RESCUE
We have 25 cold stunned turtles at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center waitng for spring. It was wonderful that so many people helped with the rescues! Yes, Gatorgal's photo is awesome! She is a talented photographer!
I just added another Turtle and Gator photo! Check it out :-)
Of course, they're kind of the rage around here.
"Fear the Turtle" -- Go Terps -- U. of MD!
If you have any info about how the turtles are faring in this oil mess, or how we can help, please let us know.
So, I suppose I will wait for next year... The local Turtle Watch group is very active & a friend who is involved helps to keep me informed. Let's hope that we have lots of turtles next season. : )
I love them!
It ain't pretty.....
Night!
I bet not many people have seen one of these!! LOL!!
Thanks, Linda, for the photo!
I'm not very good at blogging.
Better than most I have seen on here!
Don't know where this came from but:
The question comes up:
"What holds the world up?"
Elder Lady: "Turtles."
Q: "What holds the turtles up?"
Elder:"More turtles."
Q: "What holds those up?"
Elder: "Turtles - it's turtles, turtles, turtles
all the way down!"
Thank You!! I've always loved that story! :D
Thank You So Much, Luci!! You have certainly inspired me with your lovely books!! Here's a review I wrote for Amazon when I received my copies of A Letter to Mother Nature.
My eagerly anticipated copies of A Letter to Mother Nature (Second Edition)(Volume 1)from Amazon has arrived! WOW!!! Luci has done a superlative job!! I purchased copies and loved the first edition, so my admiration for her second edition is even more so because it has included more of Luci's inspired writing and more images from members of the talented WunderPhoto community on Wunderground.com. This is a "wunderful" book to give as a gift and a lovely book to keep for anytime you want to be uplifted by the beauty of nature! The profits go to support the disaster relief charity Portlight.org, founded by members of the wunderground community. Awesome! What a great gift to Portlight and to those receiving the book!
Luci is a talented writer and I love the way she put together my photos, ending with Nightwatch, a loggerhead sea turtle, expressing her gratitude to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for helping her recover her health and return to her ocean home. It sincerely illustrates Luci's beautiful theme, "Words of Gratitude"! The lovely photo of the cypress trees showing us how if we all stand together is a perfect example of what happens when we do!! And so is Luci's book, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and Wunderground photographers, and Portlight!
I'm glad you enjoyed them!! I have one in Luci's book, too!
My eagerly anticipated copies of A Letter to Mother Nature (Second Edition)(Volume 1)from Amazon has arrived! WOW!!! Luci has done a superlative job!! I purchased copies and loved the first edition, so my admiration for her second edition is even more so because it has included more of Luci's inspired writing and more images from members of the talented WunderPhoto community on Wunderground.com. This is a "wunderful" book to give as a gift and a lovely book to keep for anytime you want to be uplifted by the beauty of nature! The profits go to support the disaster relief charity Portlight.org, founded by members of the wunderground community. Awesome! What a great gift to Portlight and to those receiving the book!
Luci is a talented writer and I love the way she put together my photos, ending with Nightwatch, a loggerhead sea turtle, expressing her gratitude to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for helping her recover her health and return to her ocean home. It sincerely illustrates Luci's beautiful theme, "Words of Gratitude"! The lovely photo of the cypress trees showing us how if we all stand together is a perfect example of what happens when we do!! And so is Luci's book, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, and Wunderground photographers, and Portlight!
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