The world according to me....

Someone asked me today to say which is my favorite kind of turtle. Upon reflection, I realized that I have been impressed more by individuals than species, in line with Mike’s or Kartik’s stories. One of my favorite stories (so far) of individual turtles dates back to the early 1990s. It was night on Matapica beach, Suriname, and I was completely absorbed while observing a nesting female leatherback drop her eggs into the nest cavity. Suddenly, I heard a loud “thump” and saw the leatherback’s cloaca and carapace shake. I looked up to see a hapless female green turtle that had inadvertently crawled into this leatherback. Then: FWAP!!! The leatherback struck out with her flipper and knocked the green turtle away about a meter. The leatherback calmly resumed depositing her eggs, and the dazed green turtle slowly made her way to another section of the beach to dig a nest cavity, ruing the day when leatherbacks were brought into this world.

Since this incident, I always enjoy the sight of two (or more) turtles interacting on a nesting beach, but I always wonder if they are as cranky when they meet by chance in the water...