Those of you who live near warm ocean waters enjoy swimming in the ocean. But how would you like to swim as far as some sea turtles swim? Baby turtles take off from the shore where they hatch and swim hundreds or even thousands of miles away to live, remaining in the water for many years before returning. They have been doing this since they were created. Their ability to return to the exact spot they started from years earlier is truly amazing!
Although they breathe air, some sea turtles make long dives beneath the surface hunting for food — fish, shellfish, sea snails and seaweed. The Creator designed their bodies so that the salt contained in their food and in ocean water does not hurt them.
How do they rest and sleep out in the deep ocean? They just close their eyes while floating on the surface and sleep as long as they like, bobbing in the waves. If closer to shore, they can wedge themselves on the bottom of the ocean under rocks.
Turtles are not born in water; they hatch from eggs laid on land. The reason a female turtle comes back to the starting point of her long trip is to lay a huge quantity of eggs. She usually returns in the spring to the exact spot her own mother and grandmother came to years before. Some of these sandy shores are on tiny islands, just a speck in the great ocean.
Crawling out of the water at night, the female turtle makes a slow, tiring trip over the sand to a spot far from incoming waves, even at high tide. She scoops out a large, deep hole, piling the sand behind it. Then she deposits 80 to 120 eggs the size of Ping-Pong balls into the hole. She then scoops the sand back over them until the spot is level, carefully scraping it and the surrounding area so birds and animals won’t discover the nest.
With her eggs safely hidden, the mother turtle works her way back to the ocean on her flippers. Tears are running from her eyes — not because she is sad — but because the Creator has kindly arranged the tears to wash excess salt from her body as well as grains of sand that get into her eyes when she is digging the nest.
The tropical sun warms the sand covering the nest. Within a few months, the babies break out of their shells, crawl to the surface of the sand, and head for the sea — not to return until they are old enough to lay their own eggs. However, only a few baby turtles reach the water safely. Many are eaten by birds and animals while they are still on land.
In the following two articles, we will look at some of the varieties of sea turtles and their individual ways of life.
(to be continued)
Messages of God’s Love 12/19/2021