Seems that many people I meet, whether at a conference, on a hike, on a sunset cruise or a random encounter, have had a sea turtle experience. I just returned from an environmental health conference where one of the organizers told me she was swimming in La Jolla (near San Diego) when two sea turtles suddenly appeared: one small and one large. It was surprising since she had never seen them in all of her years of swimming there. They could have been greens, loggerheads or maybe even an olive ridley?

On our recent sunset cruise on the Adventure Cat, Captain Hans said he's spotted the rare leatherback once or twice outside the Golden Gate. And an Australian woman on board that night was a sea turtle lover whose goal is to visit every sea turtle nesting site in the world!

Other friends and acquaintenances have told me of seeing green turtles in Hawaii. 

I've seen Kemp's ridleys in the hatcheries in Galveston and a loggerhead (I think) from off a shrimping dock in Georgia. 

The sea turtle bring us together in surprising and mystical ways. Please share your sea turtle tales by going to the comment section of this blog and telling us your story!

Comments

1. Comment by Heather, Aug 11th, 2010 11:57pm

   3 years ago I saw a nesting sea turtle on the beach at night in Cancun. We were walking along and there she was, so we hid in the darkness at a distance in silence and just watched for a little while. It was exciting to see a sea turtle laying her eggs!
   Then, last month my husband and I visited Kauai, where we encountered Green Sea Turtles "honu" several times during our stay. The most magical moment, however, was when we were snorkeling off the North Shore and happened upon 5 turtles eating sea grass! We swam around and observed them for a while. They were so beautiful! It was literally a life changing moment. I fell in love that day. I cried on our last day of Hawaii, and went back to the same beach to see the turtles "one last time", and thankfully 2 of them were there waiting for me!
   I came home, back to San Diego, and decided to dedicate myself to the cause of helping the sea turtles. I have since donated money to several different sea turtle charities, signed countless petitions aimed at helping to protect them, and have gotten a membership to the Chula Vista Nature Center here in San Diego, a wonderful organization that rescues animals, including sea turtles, that are in need. They currently have several sea turtles living at their facility. I have also annoyed all of my friends and family members with endlessly going on and on about the turtles on my facebook page.
   I am an artist and plan to sell some of my ocean themed paintings, donating a portion of the proceeds to Sea Turtle Restoration Project.
   
   Please keep up the good work. The turtles need you.