On Trail of the Trials & Triumphs of Turtles Happy World Turtle Day

A flashback to that time I held eternity in the palm of my hands.

The baby leatherback turtle nestles in the palm of my hand. Burrowing in, it feels safe and secure.

I feel the thrill of being its protector and saviour. At least for the moment.

It is unaware that it is only one of seven species of endangered turtles still in existence, only one of the many which once swam the world’s oceans, but do so no more because they became extinct.

This baby is one of the few survivors of the thousands of eggs which its mother and others deposited on the shore.

A Migrant Like Us

Distance would be no problem for this hatchling whose destiny may be to travel to and from the Atlantic, to Africa from the Caribbean and back again, once or many more times in its life-time.

A migrant like most of us here, it mother heaved her hundreds of pounds up to shore to lay and bury her eggs.

All to make sure this baby is hatched.

That in itself is no mean feat.

Its parents may, or many not have escaped the hands of heartless hunters who hack them for meat and shells. It too, might not have lived for another journey, given the many perils and predators at sea.

Then, thousands of others who come to shore may not be so lucky, until our Save the Turtle campaign drew attention to their plight and we moved to create understanding and awareness, demanded laws and policies and mechanisms, institutions to make its long and arduous journey through life, a little less so.

This is one of my success stories of advocacy, in a stormy sea of stories for sustainability from endangerment, loss of biodiversity, for simple right to marvel at the wonder of creation.

The mysterious destination of the endangered leatherback sea turtles is virtually one from Trinidadand Tobago to Timbuktu. That’s one of the fascinating discoveries of being on the turtle trail for more than three decades….

Turtle-tracing is of a fascinating exploration of the routes of these fascinating creatures that captured my attention as a journalist when I held this turtle on the palm of my hand.

Following the scientists tracing their trek by global orbiting satellite transmitters, tagging, tracing through North, South, East Atlantic through roots ad routes.

From the warm nesting beaches of our Northern Coasts, leatherbacks, Green and Hawksbill turtles from April to August each year, lay and cover their nested eggs, then return to travel.

This baby inspired my efforts at conservation of not only this but the many species of flora and fauna, habitats and hideouts, nooks and niches that harbour our biodiversity, to grow recognition for their value and appreciate their place in our biocultural diversity.

Believed to be among the oldest surviving reptiles in the world, its ancestors can trace their DNA back through the era of the dinosaurs.

It is 8.15 pm. The sea waves on this beach on the northern coast lap warmly at my toes, but the sea breeze is cool on my neck, whipping at my hair, whispering of a journey.

And so, I held eternity in the palm of my hand.

Happy World Turtle Day!

A cross-section of awareness raising research on our amazing turtles and efforts at protection and conservation spanning print, television, journalism, columnist, opinion leader, educator, advocate and activist, evolving into MotherContinent – The MultiMedia MicroEpic.

Dr Kris Rampersad is an award winning biocultural and gender empowerment strategist, journalist, National Geographic and UNESCO Educator/Facilitator, Author and international Sustainable Development specialist. To request analytic, advisory or creative services make contact.

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