Upon closer inspection as I came to the place where I had first seen them, the "square" turned o
ut to be a green sea turtle hatchling barely able to move one small paddlefoot.
As I bent down toward the sweet creature, a wave swept the baby turtle into the shallows.
The full moon of early August was shining so beautifully over the Indian River Lagoon the other night when I drove across the lovely arched bridge of the Melbourne Causeway from the mainland back to the beach island. That full moon should have reminded me that the baby green sea turtles, the loggerhead tortoises, and the leatherback tortoises will be hatching soon, or some already have been from time to time.
A bit further down the beach I saw loggerhead tortoise tracks that led up and back from the surf to the top of the tidal beach rise.
I know they were loggerhead tracks because of the photos on the informational card in my room at the beach side motel where I am blessed to be staying.
The differences between the green sea turtle tracks, the loggerhead tortoise tracks and leatherback sea turtle tracks are very distinctive, just as each species I'd very different.
Maybe a momma loggerhead was checking to see if any hatchlings had freed themselves from their egg shells and the sand covering their nests.
When I lived here in Brevard County in the past, sometimes while I was swimming in the ocean at sunset I would see the huge heads of momma tortoises and sea turtles pop up above the waves. And sometimes I would find myself swiomming along with them in the troughs of the surf.
Maybe the grand pregnant creatures of ancient heritage were waiting to see if it was safe to come up to the edge of the dunes, to dig their nests, to deposit their eggs, and to cover them up again under the cover of night.
But with the help of the light of the full moon, their tasks are easier. And the warmth of the summer sun on the sand nurtures the babies as they grow inside their eggs.
Aren't nature's cycles fascinating?
The baby tortoises and sea turtles will be hatching from time to time now all the way until the end of October.
People who live on the beach side in houses and in condos, or who stay in hotels and motels along the beach know or learn to keep to a minimum any kind of light except for red lights from May 1st through October 31st. This is so that the hatchlings won't follow any light but that of the moon, so that they will safely make it to their ocean environment.
The full moon is important because when it rises in the east over the ocean, and the turtles and tortoises hatch, the moonlight makes a path for the babies to follow.
They intrinsically know to go toward the light. Isn't that amazing?
No birds find them at night, because those that prey on them do not fly in the dark.
But the baby sea turtles and tortoises who are unlucky enough not to make it to the surf line in the dark become breakfast for the shore birds. A cycle of life and death, it's nature at work.
But isn't the image wonderful of the hatchlings born on land under a covering of sand, being led to their ocean home because of the path of light, the moon shine laid on the ocean from beach to horizon?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.". (Psalm 119:105)
Out of the wonders of nature I find a touching reminder of the way the treasures of the Bible are used by the Holy Spirit to brighten my life and help me to seek the Lord so that I will be guided on the paths of righteousness with the Lord's help.
I am so grateful to God for the revelation I received and for the time alone with Him -- and with His lovely creatures and His beautiful creation at dawn.
As I bent down toward the sweet creature, a wave swept the baby turtle into the shallows.
The full moon of early August was shining so beautifully over the Indian River Lagoon the other night when I drove across the lovely arched bridge of the Melbourne Causeway from the mainland back to the beach island. That full moon should have reminded me that the baby green sea turtles, the loggerhead tortoises, and the leatherback tortoises will be hatching soon, or some already have been from time to time.
A bit further down the beach I saw loggerhead tortoise tracks that led up and back from the surf to the top of the tidal beach rise.
I know they were loggerhead tracks because of the photos on the informational card in my room at the beach side motel where I am blessed to be staying.
The differences between the green sea turtle tracks, the loggerhead tortoise tracks and leatherback sea turtle tracks are very distinctive, just as each species I'd very different.
Maybe a momma loggerhead was checking to see if any hatchlings had freed themselves from their egg shells and the sand covering their nests.
When I lived here in Brevard County in the past, sometimes while I was swimming in the ocean at sunset I would see the huge heads of momma tortoises and sea turtles pop up above the waves. And sometimes I would find myself swiomming along with them in the troughs of the surf.
Maybe the grand pregnant creatures of ancient heritage were waiting to see if it was safe to come up to the edge of the dunes, to dig their nests, to deposit their eggs, and to cover them up again under the cover of night.
But with the help of the light of the full moon, their tasks are easier. And the warmth of the summer sun on the sand nurtures the babies as they grow inside their eggs.
Aren't nature's cycles fascinating?
The baby tortoises and sea turtles will be hatching from time to time now all the way until the end of October.
People who live on the beach side in houses and in condos, or who stay in hotels and motels along the beach know or learn to keep to a minimum any kind of light except for red lights from May 1st through October 31st. This is so that the hatchlings won't follow any light but that of the moon, so that they will safely make it to their ocean environment.
The full moon is important because when it rises in the east over the ocean, and the turtles and tortoises hatch, the moonlight makes a path for the babies to follow.
They intrinsically know to go toward the light. Isn't that amazing?
No birds find them at night, because those that prey on them do not fly in the dark.
But the baby sea turtles and tortoises who are unlucky enough not to make it to the surf line in the dark become breakfast for the shore birds. A cycle of life and death, it's nature at work.
But isn't the image wonderful of the hatchlings born on land under a covering of sand, being led to their ocean home because of the path of light, the moon shine laid on the ocean from beach to horizon?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.". (Psalm 119:105)
Out of the wonders of nature I find a touching reminder of the way the treasures of the Bible are used by the Holy Spirit to brighten my life and help me to seek the Lord so that I will be guided on the paths of righteousness with the Lord's help.
I am so grateful to God for the revelation I received and for the time alone with Him -- and with His lovely creatures and His beautiful creation at dawn.
Kathleen Ware Harris © 2013
kwharris777@gmail.com
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