The Turtle’s Kiss
Today I would like to talk to you about the green sea turtles living around the Islands of Hawaii. I always marvel when I have the luck to encounter one in the water or on the beach, where they come in the afternoon to sleep in the sun.
In the old times, they were a part of the food the Hawaiian people took from nature for their survival. But they never took more than they needed, only one at the time and always from a different place, so the population would not be endangered. Only when the strangers came with their ships, they started abusing nature by taking turtles as a convenient living food-reserve on their vessels to change from whale and fish.
Today the turtles are protected by Law. But they are not safe yet as people out of neglect and mindless action put them in danger. How? You say, nobody wants to hurt the turtles so how could this happen?
Well, turtles are not only grazing the algae in the water, they are very fond of jellyfish too. So when people at the beach carelessly throw away their cigarette butts or burry them in the sand, they don’t think about any danger for the turtles. But the wind and the waves can transport the butts into the water and there only the thin paper dissolves, the rest of tobacco spreads its poisons into the water and the filter … well, the filter does not dissolve. It unfolds and opens up in the water and looks exactly like a nice little jellyfish, for a turtle at least. With one snap it’s in the turtle’s stomach and can’t be digested. The stomach fills up with this artificial stuff and the turtle does not feed any more. Finally the turtle dies from starvation. What a pity! And there are other dangers. When swimming in this incredibly beautiful world of the Pacific Ocean around the islands, we often see turtles, sleeping down there on the bottom of the sea. They can stay quite a long time there but then they have to come up to breathe. We human beings have dreams about how we would like our environment to be, we dream to ride on a dolphin, to touch a big green sea turtle or hang on to it and let us guide through the underwater-world. Deadly dreams! When a turtle, coming up to take in air, is disturbed, she goes down right away again for security, but it could be lethal for her. Having no oxygen left she might drown.
So I plead to respect the rights of all the living creatures in the oceans and on the land. Fill your hearts and your eyes with their beauty to overflowing – and keep your hands on the trigger of your cameras! For the best of all!
I had a very nice experience with a green sea turtle on Hawaii one day. Passing through the knee-deep water on a stony section of the beach I saw a small group of people watching the water and a little boy, about 5 years old, splashing around and obviously chasing something. As I came nearer, I saw that it was a medium-sized sea turtle trying to get back into the deeper water. As the adults of the group did not interfere, I talked to the little boy, explaining that the turtles are protected and that it is not allowed to harass them. The kid looked at me and let go of the turtle. But the turtle, instead of swimming away to security, swam over to where I stood and approached slowly my naked feet in the water. She stopped at an inch from my left foot, moving her head from side to side, as if considering her next step, and then almost lovingly, took one of my toes in her mouth, like a kiss. Then she turned and swam away. It was the fourth toe, the one connected to the heart chakra.
We all were flabbergasted. The man, obviously the father of the child, said in a hushed voice: “She really must love you!”
I felt so blessed; a turtle, symbol of Mother Earth, had connected to my heart.
