Five fathoms down a turtle lies...

Published: Wed, 11/13/19

Is that turtle dead? The creature was lying on a shelf, several meters under the water with its back to the viewing window. It certainly wasn’t moving its back flippers or showing any other signs of life. After I had been watching for a while a second turtle swam down to the seemingly inert creature and nudged it until it seemed to wake up and it swam to the surface. A few minutes later the sleepy turtle came back and resumed it’s original position with its friend also resting companionably by its side. I am still not sure exactly what I witnessed but there are always surprises when we visit The Deep.

Venetia’s sister and family stayed with us at the weekend. This included partner Josh and children, Rosa who is nearly five and Theo who is nearly two. We had decided when the visit was first arranged that a good choice of activity would be a visit to The Deep, Hull’s very own sea life centre. Young Theo slept in his push chair through most the visit but his big sister and the adults all enjoyed themselves very much. The most spectacular part of the Deep is the ‘Endless Ocean’ tank which apparently contains 2.5 million liters of water and can be observed through viewing windows on at least three floors. I am not exactly sure how large it is. I know, it is meant to appear a lot bigger than it actually is. It does take three flights of stairs to get back to the entrance from the bottom of the tank.

Either way, this tank is big enough to accommodate an impressive array of large fish including several species of shark, rays, sawfish and a pair of rescued Loggerhead sea turtles which I started off describing. I don’t think the fish have been given names but the reptiles are referred to as Sensa and Mabouche. Both were rescued after being caught on long fishing lines in the Mediterranean. As a result both have damaged lower jaws and are not considered fit to cope with life back in the wild, so both will live out the rest of their lives at The Deep. Sensa, the older turtle, has the added disadvantage of having paralysed back legs. If you look carefully at her shell you can see where damage has been done high up in the centre but has healed over since. I don’t know what did the damage in the first place, perhaps a propeller on a boat or ship? Whatever it was the turtle can now only swim with her front flippers, which makes
swimming to the surface quite an effort for her. Which probably explains why she was so still that I was wondering if she was still alive. It seems that the staff at the Deep regularly get asked if the turtle is dead and the stock answer is.

‘Turtles can rest underwater for as long as five hours before they need to go to the surface to breath’. Which is pretty extraordinary if you think about it.

And. ‘We would not leave a dead turtle in the tank and we would notice.’ Which makes sense, but I am still wondering if the younger turtle takes responsibility for making sure its disabled friend wakes up and takes a breath on a regular basis. I am probably projecting too much. And one should never anthropomorphize turtles, they hate that.

The disabled turtle did make me think of verse 71 of the Havamal which counsels that it is better to be alive even if disabled, than dead. The verse tells us that a lame man can ride, a handless man can drive a herd, a deaf man can fight and win, better to be blind than dead. Does that include a disabled turtle which can still be an interesting exhibit in a sea life centre? Recently this verse has struck home to me. I have not been blind in both eyes and my right is getting better every day, but I have been reminded how valuable my sight is.

If you do get a chance to visit the Deep take it, it is fascinating place. Check out the website anyway https://www.thedeep.co.uk/plan-your-visit/deep-tour/endless-ocean

Regards

Graham

PS I am now driving again so I will be teaching in Salisbury this Saturday, there seems to be a lot of interest and I am expecting a good turn out. However, if you would like to come let me know and I will see how many we can fit in. https://www.iceandfire.org.uk/salisbury161119.html

PPS All the diaries I mentioned last week have found good homes.