So we got back from our weekend in the rainforest and went into work on Monday to find that one of our turtles had been kidnapped. We can only keep turtles until they are five years old when the government insists they are released into the ocean and we knew that we had three Green Turtles that were over four and therefore ready to be released but what I wasn’t ready for was one being collected over the weekend to be released alongside a turtle from another sanctuary. So Rod, Jane and Freddie (obviously my names) are now one short but seem to be coping with their loss quite well. The other two will probably start travelling the world in the next two weeks
So a good time to tell you about most of our turtles in Kosgoda who are our Green Turtles of various ages.
The Green Team
Green Turtles are the most common in Sri Lanka but are not even green for most of their lives. They are born dark brown so that they can hide in the sea and over the next few years develop an amazing firework pattern on their shells in different shades of brown and orange – looks like fireworks going off. But they’re still not green
As a child they need protein to grow and get that from eating fish, crabs and shrimps. When they become an adult and are fully grown – about one metre long and about 250 KG – they change their diet and become vegetarian moving to seagrass and seaweed. This means that their skin turns green and is how they got their name
Typically Green Turtles have been hunted for their meat – turtle soup – their eggs and their attractive shell for jewellery, glasses and handbags. At one point they were critically endangered but this has now been reduced to endangered which is a great move forward especially as they can live 80-100 years. Still a lot of education to do but definitely moving in the right direction
I’ve seen a couple of articles whilst here where Green Turtles have been found off the coasts of Ireland and the Outer Hebrides – really too cold for them – but shows how far they can swim or be blown in storms
Other than our babies which I’ll talk about another time, we’ve got twelve Green’s (thirteen if one wasn’t kidnapped!) and I’ve talked about Carman the albino already. They range from six months to four years and all have their own quirks and personalities.
Where possible we put turtles together, even though they are solitary normally in the wild, and you see then playing and fighting like any other child would. Some really don’t mix well and like their own space so to keep the peace and stop them bullying each other they have their own tank.
You’ll see that they all have different coloured shells and like fingerprints, each turtle is unique, and their colour is pretty much final about 3-4 years. The shells are made from Keratin just like our fingernails but thicker, so they can feel pressure on the shells just as we can if you squeeze your nail.
I’m probably becoming a turtle bore so here are a few things I’ve seen with our Green Turtles that you might like
They sit on top of each other and make turtle piles – a bit like a pancake stack when they rest
They get a case of the zoomies in their tanks sometime which usually ends up with a tidal wave splash, especially from the bigger ones and I got absolutely soaked just saying good morning one day much to the delight of everyone around
They come up to see you when you speak to them and sometimes smile – OK this is probably all in my head but really they do come over although I think it could be more to check if any food is around and they do open their mouths but in reality it’s probably just breathing. Little things make me smile so let me have my fun with this one
We touch them as little as possible but do have to move them around for feeding and cleaning. If they’re not happy then they do let you know and a leather flipper on the arm is definitely not pleasant, even from the little ones. Imagine an excited Labrador and its tail and you’ll get the idea. If you sit on the side of the tank then the bigger ones will give you a shove as they go past as well
And I can’t not mention turtle poo which was the subject of many a conversation before I left. So little turtles eat little bits of fish and have little poo that you can’t really see so they’re OK. The bigger ones eat more and bigger fish bits so you can probably imagine what that means. Turtle poo floats and looks like poo, which I discovered when I saw a bit of twig in the tank and decided to pick it out – nothing more to be said!
Bet you thought there would be a poo picture – even I’m not that sad
Teaching can be fun
The last thing for this post if that we’ve been asked to do some English lessons with some local kids so why not give it a go. B decided to delegate this to me which probably isn’t a bad idea or they’d only be taught the rules of rugby. So I’ve got two sisters aged 7 and 14 who want to improve their English who are supposed to come for one hour a week. The older one is great and does English lessons at school and can hold a good conversation but the youngest is more of a work in progress and knows a bit but it’s not on her curriculum yet.
Started slow with some colouring in and doing colours which seemed to work well with the little one and having a conversation with the older one to see what she knows and it must be going OK as they keep coming back – daily if I’d let them – but have so far done 3 sessions with another one tomorrow. Last time they brought a friend along so could have a whole class soon
Things I’ve learnt from them:
- Korea and K-Pop is popular with 14 year olds everywhere
- Strawberries and chocolate cake is definitely a favourite
- They live by the sea but don’t like swimming
- Lawyer and Doctor is the career of choice and they know what they need to do to get there
- Netball is a popular sport out here as well
- They choose English books from the library through choice – can’t see that happening in the UK
- You Tube/Internet is great for explaining/showing things that get lost in translation
- Cute dogs are everyone’s favourite
So that’s it for now – speak soon
B&J
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