Not sure how I got so lucky, but the turtles had just hatched that morning. At lunch I mentioned to the resident environmentalist that I was bummed the turtle release season was over in the part of Mexico we were visiting. ‘Uno momento, wait one moment!’ Moi said. ‘Let me make a call.’
We had traveled to Nayarit, Mexico, an hour’s drive from Puerto Vallarta, for a few days of R&R. Work and life were hectic, and I was looking forward to a break. It turns out I’m not very good at taking breaks, but I managed to read some pages of the latest book I’m working on (one of my rules: never go ANYWHERE without a book in my bag). Yoga in the morning, every meal in the open-air palapa with a view of the ocean— pretty much heaven for this land-locked Texas girl!
But my mind kept straying back to work and other things — I felt preoccupied and not really able to relax.
‘Good news!’ Moi called me over. ‘The marine biology center has 300 baby turtles that hatched this morning, and it’s one of the two last batches of the season! They’re bringing them tonight!’
It was my lucky turtle day. At 5:30, right at sunset, Jeep headlights came up the beach and they unloaded two buckets FULL of baby turtles! So dark and so small, one fit snugly in the palm of my hand. Small, but mighty! Those little flippers – barely an inch or so long – were powerfully strong as they banged against my hand.
We drew a line in the sand, which nobody was allowed to cross, and then slowly shook the little turtles out — those hundreds of tiny guys looked like a little flippered marathon race starting line. And the amount of time it took those little guys to get to the edge of the water FELT as long as a marathon, let me tell you. It was like watching grass grow, as my grandmama used to say!
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration… but it was slooooooow going, which I suppose isn’t surprising since they were, you know, turtles. Motionless, then a little spurt of flipper movement propelled them forward, and then they’d take another break. I realized that they must be getting tired on this first journey of their young lives. It wasn’t easy, and the dozens of feet they had to cross to make it into mother ocean was more like miles given their size.
I learned that turtle releases take place at sunset because they orient themselves toward the setting sun on the horizon to know which way to go. Sort of like I had to stop and orient myself that evening to focus on the present, the launch of these baby turtles. It took nearly an hour for the last one to make it to the waves, that last, cresting, long reach of water that gave that needed, final bit of traction – one more flipper pull, and it slid out of sight.
Why couldn’t we just pick them up and set them down in the waves? Or even better, take them out beyond the breakers and release them in calmer water? Well, I learned that baby turtles MUST crawl through the sand and surf even though it’s a long, hard way – and they really did seem exhausted after a while — in order to build up their strength for survival in the ocean. Again, sort of like I HAVE to face and overcome the challenges life throws my way – or that I create for myself through my own choices – in order for me to emerge stronger and wiser on the other side.
That baby turtle release taught me that it’s the ROUGH PASSAGE that makes you stronger, that makes you a survivor. Truly the only way out, is through, girlfriends!