What a great day! Today brought forth the discovery of TWO new nests on the beach, which happened as Venus was in transit over the sun (ok, ok, maybe not so melodramatic, but they DID happen last night!) We're so excited! Loggerheads, both of them. Now there's three nests so far, how exciting is that!
Also in local happenings, the largest turtle ever to be in-patient at the Turtle Hospital is now in residence. A 375 pound green turtle was found in distress by people in a small boat. The turtle had become entangled in lobster trap line, and one of her front flippers was self amputating. Don't forget this important fact: turtle flippers can only move forward, they cannot move in reverse. Line is especially problematic for turtles because once they become entangled, they cannot untangle. Every forward motion of a flipper wraps the line tighter, and tighter and tighter. It's horrible. So, here was this close to 70 year old mammoth green sea turtle in distress once again thanks to the hand of man. Yet, thanks to the hand of man, people came to her rescue. As mentioned, the Turtle Hospital responded. Several people were required to lift her into that small boat. She was transported to the Hospital, evaluated, and had the flipper amputated. She is now resting comfortably and eating well. If no infection occurs, she will be released in 2-3 months most likely. Turtles can still survive well with an amputation. The goal of the Turtle Hospital is "treat 'em and street 'em" (my words, not theirs) meaning do all within their means to get an injured turtle rehabbed and returned back to Nature as quickly as possible.
I'm hoping to get up to the Turtle Hospital in the next few weeks for a tour. I've been through the tour literally dozens of times, it never gets old and every time I go I learn something new. Plus, I never lose that "tug" at the heartstrings when I see those beautiful creatures.
Continuing on the subject of animals, last evening, a PBS film crew came out to film the endangered Key deer as part of a documentary on their "Nature" series. The piece is about white tailed deer, and Key deer are included because they are a subspecies of the white tails. This was done under the watchful eye of Officer Chad (FWS) to insure that things were done properly. I am hopeful the crew got great footage. They were here at a time when a good size number of deer were foraging on the grounds, and there were 2 babies who happened to be tagging along with their mommies as well. I wasn't really expecting to be filmed myself as the other happy vegan made the arrangements. This is important to note because I would have liked to worn clothes that at least matched. Alas that was not to be. If you happen to catch the segment (scheduled for airing Spring 2013) please forgive the ridiculous attire I happen to have on. I've written enough about fashion on this blog for you to know that my daily outfits are, um.... interesting at best, and if I wanted anything coordinated, I'd have a challenge that I'm not well prepared to handle at this point in my career. Regardless, the most important thing is the spotlight is shining upon the endangered Key deer, and I'm hoping that someone, somewhere will change their thinking when they come to visit us, and finally understand why NOT to feed the Key deer, and also why NOT to flip off the innkeeper who's doing her best to politely stop someone from doing so.
I think that wraps it up for today. I've got cupcakes to frost, cookies to bake, and a cake to mastermind. Enjoy your day folks, and keep good thoughts for those baby turtles percolating in nests all around the world right now!
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