I learnt some pretty amazing things about turtles during the movie. Apparently they have something like an in-built compass which means they always know where they are and where they need to be. They are solitary animals, drifting through the ocean alone for their entire lives. Only one in 10,000 loggerhead turtles make it to the point of mating, with the other 9,999 getting lost along the way, becoming victim to the life-cycle or suffering from human impact on the environment.
The thing that struck me most was the fact that from the minute the turtle hatched, she knew what she had to do and where she had to go. She knew she had to battle the waves to get out into the ocean, and once there that she had to find a seaweed raft to guide her along the Gulf Stream. When she got lost, she knew how to get back. Over thousands of years, loggerhead turtles have worked out the safest route through the ocean, and somehow each one is born with this route programmed into them.
Another thing I’ve taken away from this movie is the effect humankind has had on the lives of loggerhead turtles. Global warming, over-development of our coasts, oil slicks from ships and discarding plastic bags and helium balloons. All of these things narrow the chances of a turtle’s survival even further.
All in all this was an incredible film about an incredible animal on an incredible journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment