Larisa Avens

Wow – battle lines are being drawn between the beach and the water. It seems that when it comes to being a turtler, no matter which environment you work in, there can be many different levels of experience. Although I wrestle with turtles on the water now (and they often win), I started out doing turtle work on the beach. But compared to Michael Frick’s experiences, I was definitely doing turtle work as the ‘hairless ape’ type…I didn’t even have to walk the 10 km long beach I worked on, I drove an ATV! Not that the work wasn’t hard – we were relocating hundreds of nests that were threatened with tidal inundation – but it definitely wasn’t comparable to a dangerous slog through maritime forest in the dead of night with waves crashing around you. Maybe we can just say that any turtler that braves uncomfortable or hazardous conditions to collect sea turtle data deserves respect, whether on the water or on the beach? (Plus, those crazy conditions make for such great stories...)