turtle release

I'm a bit embarrassed to post about this topic, since the events surrounding it occurred almost a month ago. On the other hand, if I skip the post, I'd be robbing the world of photos of adorable baby turtles, and that would be unforgivable. Try to overlook my delinquency and check out these babies!

Oops. Not a baby turtle. But still cute.

Here's the deal: Once a year, the Cayman Turtle Farm releases 1-year-old baby turtles into the wild, I guess as part of a conservation project. It drew a crowd, which is supposedly quite normal for this event.

It took a while before the first turtle was finally brought down to the water. No, he/she didn't walk to the water, like I imagined. But if they had allowed that to happen, I think some of the turtles would have been journeying in the dark.

The first turtle, helped by Princess Jasmine (?)

Various people got to help the turtles into the water. Were they randomly chosen? Large donors to the Turtle Farm? People who refuse to eat Turtle Soup? Who knows.

Smile for the camera!

It usually took the turtles a bit of encouragement to get to the water, but once the salt water washed over their cobblestone backs, they seemed to feel at home.

This guy tested out his swimmers early with a bit of waving to the crowd:



As usual, the resident kids were just delightful.

I mean, how PC of a photographer am I? Three races in one shot!

Babies love babies.

So that was the annual turtle release, occurring right in the middle of Pirates Week. I wish all you turtles safe swimming and happy travels, and if you see me in the big blue wet thing with a scary-looking snorkel mask, give me a wave.