World Turtle Day®!

Happy World Turtle Day®! It’s time to shellebrate (as Dean might say)! 😉

American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization, created this day over 20 years ago to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.

For more than 100 million years sea turtles have covered vast distances across the world’s oceans, filling a vital role in the balance of wildlife. We need to continue to protect these important animals.

Here are a few small things you can do to help saves turtles: Adopt a turtle instead of buying one from the pet shops. Never remove or touch a turtle in the wild (unless they are sick or injured). If a tortoise is crossing a busy street, pick it up, and send it in the same direction it was going – if you try to make it go back, it will turn right around again. Report any illegal sales of turtles or tortoises to animal control. You can also consider supporting of one the many nonprofit organizations out there working to protect these important animals to our world.

Happy World Turtle Day®! 🐢 P.S. Emma thanks you!

Fun Facts about Green Sea Turtles

Enjoy some fun facts about green sea turtles:

  • They feed on jellyfish and crabs as juveniles. As adults, they eat mostly sea grasses and algae.
  • These creatures weigh an average of 400 pounds!
  • They can swim up to 35 miles per hour.
  • They can be found off the coast of around140 countries, but are still on the endangered species list.
  • They are estimated to live about 80 years old.
  • Sea turtles cannot breathe underwater. They must come to the surface for some air.

And last, did you know that Emma is a great name for a sea turtle? 😉 For more information about Emma, check out my book, Turtle Tube: An Erutuf National Park Novel.

Photo by Jesse Schoff

Victory Sign

With the ongoing stress of Covid, wildfires, the upcoming elections, and distance learning, I often catch myself dreaming about green sea turtles.

Green sea turtles are known for their grace in the water, their big beautiful shells, and those huge gentle eyes. Those eyes can definitely talk to you!

Green sea turtles can weigh over 700 pounds making them the largest of the hardshell sea turtles. They can swim up to 35 miles per hour. Green sea turtles can also hold their breathe for hours at time.

It’s like going on vacation picturing these animals swimming through some deep blue waters. I follow those large dark eyes. I can see their large flippers paddling with ease. The flippers tilt up like a victory sign in the deep waters.

I’ll take that victory sign and hang on to it. Find your animal and take that vision to somewhere peaceful and calm.

World Turtle Day 🐢

Happy World Turtle Day!WorldTurtleDay badge

American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization, created this day 17 years ago to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.

Turtles are the most endangered group of vertebrates in the world. Of the 356 species of turtles and tortoises worldwide, about 61% of them are threatened or already extinct.

Adopt a turtle instead of buying one from the pet shops. Never remove or touch a turtle in the wild (unless they are sick or injured). If a tortoise is crossing a busy street, pick it up, and send it in the same direction it was going – if you try to make it go back, it will turn right around again. Report any illegal sales of turtles or tortoises to animal control. Consider supporting of one the many nonprofit organizations out there working to protect these important animals to our world.

Happy World Turtle Day! 🐢