Of Time and Turtles

A blogging friend suggested this book to me as I was learning to become a sea turtle rescuer, and I'm so glad she did.

I quickly realized most of the book is devoted to rehabbing land turtles, but there is one chapter in which author Sy Montgomery spends time searching for sea turtles along the shoreline who have been stunned by the cold.

Montgomery becomes a volunteer turtle rehabber during the pandemic. One of my favorite parts of the book is when the rehabbers release seventy-five baby turtles into the world. As one observer says, “‘How many things can make you feel this good?'“

I learned a lot about turtles from this book, enough to inspire me to seek out a few turtle reference books for my upcoming stint as a volunteer at the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.

Here's a bit of what I learned:

“Turtles are as old as the first dinosaurs, older than the first crocodiles, and have been around for over 250 million years.”

“The more than 350 species of turtles, gracing six continents, display breathtaking talents. One...is their longevity...Some can sense a lake or pond a mile away...Some breathe through their butts; some pee through their mouths. Some are red, some are yellow, and some change color dramatically once a year. There are turtles with soft shells, turtles with necks longer than their bodies, turtles with heads so big they can't retract them, turtles whose shells glow in the dark.”

“The major organs of a hundred-year-old turtle...are indistinguishable from those of a teenager of the same species. Their hearts can cease beating for long periods without damage. In species that hibernate...turtles can survive buried in mud for months without taking a breath.”

“...the heart of an alligator snapping turtle...kept beating for five days after the turtle was decapitated. In laboratory experiments, even when completely deprived of oxygen, the brains of sliders can continue to function for days.”

“But this is one of the astonishing things about turtles: They can regenerate nerve tissue, even sometimes when the spinal cord is actually cut in half.”

“The shell is one reason turtle-kind has persisted so long on this earth, and why they are blessed with such long lives.”