Sea Turtle Readying to Nest (2009)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0TEdPXfC8s&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

It started with a typical, nice weather day on the beach, with the usual crowd of tourists on the beach. I paddled the kayak across Eastern Lake to get to the beach, and after some beach time, Rebecca and I decided to paddle out into the Gulf of Mexico to see if we could find any sea critters. Just on the far edge of the second sandbar, this Sea Turtle was swimming about, surely waiting to come onshore and lay her eggs. She swam around in the same area for a while. Since I had the camera, and Rebecca was in the Captain’s seat, she paddled us around for a little while, as I tried to get some footage of the Sea Turtle. (note to self — the underwater angle is different than the above water angle.) Out of the three minutes of footage, I had very few moments where the Sea Turtle was actually on film. Not wanting to disturb her, we paddled on, not seeing any other sea critters that afternoon. This Sea Turtle is like a moving reef, and there were many fish following her every move.

Unless you get off your beach chair and get out and explore, you never know what lies just beyond. Explore. Remember that just because you don’t see something very close to you, doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Please remove your beach items from the beach each day, and be respectful of our precious environment.

Murray Balkcom balances his time in the office with enjoying the great outdoors. He is also a kayak and nature guide for Blue Sky Kayak Tours.