The world according to me....

Last Sunday, I received a call from Wendy, who was on Bald Head Island, that there was an injured turtle in Bogue Sound, in Morehead City. She gave me the cell phone number of the person who called in the observation. I called the number and was soon speaking to a woman on a small boat who had observed a turtle being struck by another boat. The woman had been able to slowly coax the floating turtle closer to shore. I quickly drove near to where she said she was, and after some walking around, I found the homeowner who allowed me to go into his backyard and onto his private dock next to which the turtle was floating. The water was murky and looked deep, so I carefully lowered myself down the pilings. When I finally let go, I was surprised to find that the water was only 1 meter deep, so it wasn't necessary for me to have lowered myself down the pilings in the first place. I was able to walk through the water and grab the turtle, who didn't put up much resistance (she had three lacerations from a boat propeller, including one over the top of her eye). The woman and her husband helped me carry the turtle to my truck, then I drove off intending to go directly to the Topsail Turtle Rehabilitation Center. However, my calf was stinging and I looked down and saw blood pooling in my sandal: I had been cut by barnacles and oysters on the pier pilings. I needed to go home first and clean myself up. I was on the road again within 20 minutes. AfterI had delivered the turtle (now named Morehead) to the Topsail Rehabilitation Center and the turtle had been stabilized, the attention turned to me and my leg. I am proud to say that I myself have been treated at the sea turtle hospital, and sure enough the cuts are healing nicely.