Central America
Sea Turtles

There are 5 species of sea turtles that may be found in the coastal areas of Central America. These Caribbean sea turtles are all quite large. Each of the five species hatch from a golf ball sized egg. The Ridley sea turtle matures at about 90 pounds. The Hawksbill weighs an average of 125 pounds. The Green sea turtle and the Loggerhead sea turtle will weigh 200 to 250 pounds as adults. The huge leatherback sea turtle weighs an average of 800 pounds, but they can weigh as much as 1,500 pounds and grow to a length of 7 feet.

By the mid-20th Century many of the sea turtle species were threatened with extinction. One hundred years ago the turtles were so numerous in the Caribbean that they represented a food resource similar to the bison of North America. If the sea turtles were still present in those numbers, they could provide protein for the entire coastal population of Central America. But the sea turtles were too tasty for their own good. The Indians netted and harpooned them. The buccaneers and merchantmen captured them alive and stored them upside down on the decks of their ships as a source of fresh meat. At night on the nesting beaches, the "turtle turners" would patrol the beaches during the nesting season and wrestle the turtles onto their backs. The following day the helpless stranded turtles would be picked up by boats and shipped away for food. Even the eggs were collected for a delicious treat. Some thought that the eggs cured impotence.

Today the sea turtles are protected species. Perhaps with cooperation and time their numbers will come back. There still is a lot of mystery in the habits and ways of the sea turtles. They are all great travelers. The green turtle will accomplish an incredible feat of navigation. They will travel hundreds and even thousands of miles of open sea to their nesting grounds. Each year between 3,00 and 8,000 green sea turtles make their way from the open sea to a major nesting beach on the coast of Costa Rica. The Tortuguero is the name for this wild area of Costa Rica. In 1965 the Costa Rican government designated the 22 miles of Tortuguero's beaches a national park and made it off limits to the turtle hunters.

Each year from May to October, fleets of adult hawksbill, leatherback and green turtles return from their long ocean travels to mate off shore and nest on the gray to black sand beaches. The green sea turtle will dig three or four egg chambers and deposit about 100 eggs in each one. The hawksbill turtle makes the fastest work of the nesting process. In less than two hours she will dig a shallow pit and deposit up to 160 eggs. Once the eggs are deposited, the female turtle departs again for the ocean.

The eggs are deposited far from the water's edge. Though the number of eggs laid by the female are great there is much danger for both the eggs and the hatchlings. Coatimundis, raccoons, vultures and dogs will dig up the nests and help themselves to the eggs. From the surviving eggs the baby turtles hatch in the sand. Most wait until the cover of nightfall to begin their march to the sea. They invariably know which way to go, marching to the sea rather than landward. The newly hatched turtles are easy prey for gulls, terns and frigate birds. Some, hung up by logs and other natural barriers, are baked by the hot sun before they can make it to the sea. If they safely reach the sea, their worries are far from over. The ocean affords little safety to the newly hatched sea turtles. They are easy prey for hungry jacks, mackerels and barracuda. Should they survive to adulthood their greatest risk is man. Not much is known about the habits and travels of the adult sea turtles and their life in the open sea.
 

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."

Joseph Addison

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New Twist On An Old Classic

So this hem walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender says "We don't serve stitchery in here; you'll have to leave."

The hem doesn't move from his stool, so the bartender throws him out.

After landing on the sidewalk, the hem finds a broken bottle, and decides he's going to get his revenge. He's so angry he doesn't even bother to neaten himself up before he goes back in. The bartender looks at him, and says "Hey, aren't you a piece of stitchery?" and the hem (finally noticing that he's a bit unravelled) answers "I'm a frayed sew."

kilroy@copland.rowan.edu (Dr Nancy's Sweetie)

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Why did Moses wander around in the wilderness for 40 years?

Because even then men wouldn't stop and ask for directions.

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A matter of perspective

A woman, while touring a small South American country was shown a bullfight. The guide told her, "This is our number one sport."

The horrified woman said, "Isn't that revolting?"

"No," the guide replied, "that's our number two sport."

bjebonnie@juno.com

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Family tree

A boy was assigned a paper on childbirth and asked his parents "how was I born?" "Well honey..." said the slightly prudish parent, "the stork brought you to us."

"OH," said the boy. "Well, how did you and daddy get born?" he asked.

"Oh, the stork brought us too." "Well how were grandpa and grandma born?" he persisted.

"Well darling, the stork brought them too!" said the parent, by now starting to squirm a little in the Lazy Boy recliner.

Several days later, the boy handed in his paper to the teacher who read with confusion the opening sentence: "This report has been very difficult to write due to the fact that there hasn't been a natural childbirth in my family for three generations."

R.G.BRADFORD@genie.com (Geoff)
-told by the minister his church, Dr. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Presbyterian, Ft. Lauderdale

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I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not sure.


A piano teacher addressed a problem student: "If you don't behave, I'm going to tell your parents you have real talent!"


If you ask a cop directions in New York, he says, "Well you go to Seventy-ninth Street, and if you make it..."

above one-liners from AdamsCathy@aol.com

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TRUE FACT ...

Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day.

SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University

I feel more like I do now than I did before I started.

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~ Throwing Away the Past ~

 
In an essay titled "Good Guys Finish First (Sometimes)," Andrew Bagnato told the following story:

Following a rags-to-riches season that led them to the Rose Bowl--their first in decades--Northwestern University's Wildcats met with coach Gary Barnett for the opening of spring training.

As players found their seats, Barnett announced that he was going to hand out the awards that many Wildcats had earned in 1995. Some players exchanged glances. Barnett does not normally dwell on the past. But as the coach continued to call players forward and handed them placards proclaiming their achievements, they were cheered on by their teammates.

One of the other coaches gave Barnett a placard representing his seventeen national coach-of-the-year awards. Then, as the applause subsided, Barnett walked to a trash can marked "1995." He took an admiring glance at his placard, then dumped it in the can.
In the silence that followed, one by one, the team's stars dumped their placards on top of Barnett's. Barnett had shouted a message without uttering a word: "What you did in 1995 was terrific, lads. But look at the calendar: It's 1996."

It's great to celebrate the accomplishments of the past. But with God, our best days are always ahead.

-- Chicago Tribune Magazine (9/1/96)