Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth's Last Dinosaur Read online

  THE STORY OF THE ANCIENT LEATHERBACK AND WHAT ITS SURVIVAL SAYS ABOUT OUR FUTURE, FROM THE AWARD-W1NNING SCIENTIST AND WRITER

  An evolutionary marvel, the single surviving species of its genus and family, the leatherback turtle is a reptile that behaves like a warm-blooded dinosaur—males weigh up to 2,000 pounds—and is able to withstand colder water than most fishes and dive deeper than any whale. Though its ancestry can be traced back 125 million years, the leatherback’s uncertain future is now in our hands. Today sea turtle populations are in freefall in Pacific waters, while Atlantic numbers are on the rise. Carl Safina’s eye-opening investigation into the leatherback’s complex life cycle is at the heart of this compelling narrative.

  We are invited to accompany the author and his colleagues as they research the pelagic giant’s unique natural history, gauge the effects of human intervention, and track the sea turtle’s migrations across the world’s oceans to remote beaches on every continent. To this end, we follow the leatherback by sea and satellite, including an exhilarating six-thousand-mile Pacific journey from Monterey, California, to newly discovered nesting grounds in the wilderness of New Guinea.

  Voyage of the Turtle captures the delicate interaction between the ancient giants and the people who are playing significant roles in the leatherback’s survival. Safina’s stories remind us how deeply interconnected are our actions with all life on earth.

  ALSO BY CARL SAFINA

  Song for the Blue Ocean

  Eye of the Albatross

  VOYAGE OF THE TURTLE

  VOYAGE OF THE TURTLE

  In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur

  CARL SAFINA

  Henry Holt and Company, LLC

  Publishers since 1866

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, New York 10010

  www.henryholt.com

  Henry Holt® and ® are registered trademarks of

  Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

  Copyright © 2006 by Carl Safina

  All rights reserved.

  Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Safina, Carl, 1955-

  Voyage of the turtle : in pursuit of the Earth’s last dinosaur / Carl Safina.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7891-6

  ISBN-10: 0-8050-7891-6

  1. Leatherback turtle. I. Title.

  QL666.C546S24 2005

  597.92’89—dc22 2005055023

  Henry Holt books are available for special promotions and

  premiums. For details contact: Director, Special Markets.

  First Edition 2006

  Maps and turtle illustrations © 2006 Jon Luoma

  Designed by Kelly Too

  Printed in the United States of America

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Para Paxita y Alexandra

  I am affected by the thought that the earth nurses these eggs. They are planted in the earth, and the earth takes care of them; she is genial to them and does not kill them. It suggests a certain vitality and intelligence in the earth, which I had not realized. This mother is not merely inanimate and inorganic. Though the immediate mother turtle abandons her offspring, the earth and sun are kind to them. The old turtle on which the earth rests takes care of them while the other waddles off. Earth was not made poisonous and deadly to them. The earth has some virtue in it; when seeds are put into it, they germinate; when turtles’ eggs, they hatch in due time.

  HENRY DAVID THOREAU

  Journals, vol. 7

  He had no mysticism about turtles although he had gone in turtle boats for many years. He was sorry for them all, even the great trunk backs that were as long as the skiff and weighed a ton. Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too.

  ERNEST HEMINGWAY

  The Old Man and the Sea

  CONTENTS

  Gratitudes

  Setting Course

  PART I: ATLANTIC

  Angels of Eden—Trinidad

  Weight of the World

  Moonlight in the Sunshine State—Florida

  Leatherbacks and Cannonballs—South Carolina

  On the Edge—Georges Bank

  Animal Magnetism

  Northeast of Summer—Cape Breton Island

  PART II: BETWEEN OCEANS

  The View from Turtle Island

  PART III: PACIFIC

  The Great Beach—Costa Rica

  Flying Turtles—Mexico

  Baja

  The Other Grand Canyon—Monterey Bay

  Jamursba Belimbings—New Guinea

  Chant for the Enchanted

  Appendix: A Few Places to See Nesting Sea Turtles

  References

  Index

  GRATITUDES

  This book owes its existence to the generosities of people who took me into their working world, and of those who supported mine. I wish to thank, deeply, the dedicated, courageous scientists and conservation workers worldwide whose efforts are the reason we still have sea turtles. Some of the best among them generously allowed me into the field, sharing decades of insight and hard-won scientific understanding, providing entrée to the magic and mystery of seldom-seen realms. They are true professionals who make the difficult look easy. By helping me they have graciously shared themselves with you. I hope I have done some justice to them and the miraculous animals they love with the full force of their intellect and passion.

  For believing in this book I thank my editor, the extraordinary Jack Macrae, who shows us all how it’s done; publisher-fisherman John Sterling; and my fine agent, Jean Naggar. Bonnie Thompson, the world’s greatest copy editor, catches my mistakes. I thank also Alice Tasman, Supurna Banerjee, Raquel Jaramillo, Kelly Too, Kenn Russell, Richard Wagner, and Sharon Pochron. Jon Luoma made the excellent maps with rare craftsmanship and artistry.

  This book has been supported in part by a senior fellowship at the World Wildlife Fund, U.S., during which I have greatly benefited from the helpfulness, camaraderie, and logistical support of Scott Burns, Kim Davis, Gilly Llewellen, Kathryn Fuller, and, at WWF Indonesia, the amazing Tetha Hitipeuw. Further generosity that made possible this book and its necessary travels, as well as the work of Blue Ocean Institute, came from the Wallace Research Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation, Norcross Wildlife Foundation, West Marine, Evan Frankel Foundation, Greenstone Foundation, Streisand Foundation, the Moore Charitable Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, Susan A. and Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation, Alexander Abraham Foundation, Swiss Re America, Patagonia, Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, Vervane Foundation, United Nations Environment Programme, Spa Adriana Aveda Salon, and Atlantis Marine World. I extend special gratitude to Julie Packard and Robert Stephens, Jocelyn Wallace and H. B. Wallace, Robert J. Campbell, Geoffrey T. Freeman and Marjie M. Findlay, Randy Repass and Sally-Christine Rodgers, Andrew Sabin, Robert and Birgit Bateman, Jocelyn Sladen, Ann Stevenson Colley, Judy and Ennius Bergsma, Averill Babson, Peter and Jessica Tcherepnine, Nancy Abraham, Jason Roberts, Josephine A. Merck, Peter Matthiessen, Henry A. Jordan and Barbara McNeil Jordan, Mr. and Mrs. Rick Burnes, Burton Lee, Doug Mercer, Toni Ross, Jud Traphagen, Richard Miller, Lawrence and Rita Bonchek, John McGillian Jr., Michael I. Freedman, Doris Cadeux, Rodger S. Rickard, George Denny, Elliot
Wadsworth, Mr. and Mrs. David Deming, Deborah Gary, Bob Steneck, Dawn Navarro, Jeff Spendelow, John D. Lowry, Mr. and Mrs. Eric Wright, and others to whom I am deeply indebted.

  For hundreds of millions of years, turtles swam in a world without people, and in the peopled world they remain unaccustomed and too often unaccommodated. It could not be said of us that we are accustomed to a world without turtles. Yet now, through the darker side of our human genius, we can envision that day coming. But the brighter side of that same vision can correct our foolishness. This is the creative force behind all the key people in this story, a small group making their mark in a big, unruly world. They helped me to see, sharing wide ocean horizons and sandy paths along dark surf, my steps lit mainly by the light of their vision for a longer future and more humane world.

  In the last few years, satellite tracking of ocean animals has revolutionized our understanding of how they use the planet. Some of that work is reflected in this book. All the work is collaborative, but the main researchers whose tracking work informs this book include Scott Eckert, Peter Dutton, Scott Benson, Laura Sarti, Jim Spotila, Frank Paladino, Mike James, George Shillinger, and Barbara Block. Their research has been funded in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Census of Marine Life, through its Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP) program.

  For major assistance in the field and in gathering information I am deeply grateful to Sally Murphy, Sandy Lanham, Tom Murphy, Kelly Stewart, Chris Johnson, Larry Crowder, Martin Hall, Monica Goldberg, Charlotte Gray Hudson, Abiraj Rambaran, Kirt Rusenko, Llew Ehrhart, John Weisample, Blair Witherington, David Godfrey, Leah Shad, Capt. Richard Baldwin, Al Segars, Phil Maier, Franklyn and Alice d’Entremont, Jim Crawford, Arthur and Justin Jacquard, Ram Myers, Blair and Bert Fricker, Karin Forney, Lisa Grossman, José Parra, Rodrigo Rangel Acevedo, Hoyt Peckham, Chris Pesenti, and Kama Dean. Wallace J. Nichols largely started turtle conservation among Baja fishermen and introduced me to Gordo Fisher and many whom I met in Baja. Bryan Wallace undertook to act as my guide, companion, and interpreter in Costa Rica; were it not for Bryan, I might have met only turtles.

  I thank also Karen Eckert, Marydelle Donnelly, Colin Limpus, David Whitaker, Dick Rice, Dennis Sammy, Sabeena Beg, Dean Bagley, Josh Reece, Eliza Gilbert, David Addison, Mark and Mora Shartzies, Karyn Fein, Julia Byrd, Sophia Chiang, Kyler Abernathy, Mark Dodd, Megan Thynge, Pilar (Bibi) Santidrin Tomillo, Maria Teresa Koberg, Xavier Mi-ramontes, Carla Miramontes, David Maldonado, Jeff Seminoff, Letey Gamez and the staff of the sea turtle station at Agua Blanca, John La-Grange, Gary Paul Nabham, Tim Means and Baja Expeditions, Sebastian Troëng, Thierry Work, Kelly Newton, Stori Oates, Erin LaCasella, Tim McLaughlin, John Dutton, Bruce Robison, Baldo Morenovic, Bill Wardle, John Douglas, Lee Bradford, Heidi Gjertsen, Manjula Tiwari, and the Baja-focused organizations ProPeninsula, Groupo Tortuguero, and Pro Caguama. For additional information I thank Jeffrey Polovina, George Balazs, Carol Reeb, Andrea Ottensmeyer, Paula Kullberg, Connie Murtagh, John Turner, Mike Salmon, Stony Brook University’s Alis-tair Dove and Malcolm Bowman, Russell Dunn, and Steve Dishart of Swiss Re America, as well as Eric Chivian, Paul Epstein, and the Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment.

  I acknowledge also the Hawaii Longliners’ Association and those Atlantic U.S. long-liners and fishers in Central America, Australia, and elsewhere who are changing the way they work in an effort to reduce sea turtle deaths on their fishing gear.

  And I salute the people worldwide who have sacrificed and risked much toward the survival of sea turtles. The good news is: they are too many to list. Just a few of the brighter stars whom I have not yet mentioned include Peter Pritchard, Karen Bjorndal, Allan Bolten, Rod Mast, Mike Weber, Deborah Crouse, Jaques Fretey, Jack Frazier, Brendan God-ley, Pam Plotkin, Selena Heppell, Jeanette Wyneken, Maria and Guy Mar-covaldi and Gustave Lopez and their Projecto TAMAR in Brazil, Randall Arauz in Costa Rica, Dimitri Margaritoulis in Greece, George Hughes in South Africa, Kartik Shanker in India, and numerous other tireless luminaries whose difficult, dedicated work helps maintain the living ocean for us all.

  The steadfast Mercedes Lee, Myra Sarli, Eric Gilman, Carrie Brown-stein, Mary Turnipseed, Leslie Wayne, and Trudy Sulli of Blue Ocean Institute provided—as always—important logistical and administrative support, information, and encouragement during my travels and long bouts of writing. I thank also Rainer Judd, Jennifer Chidsey, Richard Reagan, and Sunita Chaudhry.

  Patricia Paladines provided tea and sympathy throughout. She supported—and would have been well within rights to have welcomed—my long absences to distant shores and seas.

  Most important, my uncles Tony and Sal Aragona and my father, Carlo Safina, took me fishing that day, so long ago, when from the sea came the awesome head of an astonishing creature—my first Leatherback Turtle.

  One note on style, and a travel tip: I capitalize species names, partly out of respect for living things, but mainly so it’s clear in all cases whether the adjective is just descriptive or part of the name, because not every green turtle is a Green Turtle. The most accessible and comfortable place I came across for travelers interested in seeing Leatherback Turtles nesting was at Grande Riviere, on the north coast of Trinidad, where I enjoyed a comfortable night at a lodge called the Mt. Plaisir Estate Hotel. I’d also recommend the Nature Seekers in Matura, Trinidad, as described herein, or getting involved in an Earthwatch project in a place like Playa Grande, Costa Rica, described later in this book. Seeing is supporting; the world awaits.

  SETTING COURSE

  There exists a presence in the ocean, seldom glimpsed in waking hours, best envisioned in your dreams. While you drift in sleep, turtles ride the curve of the deep, seeking their inspiration from the sky. From tranquil tropic bays or nightmare maelstroms hissing foam, they come unseen to share our air. Each sharp exhalation affirms, “Life yet endures.” Each inhaled gasp vows, “Life will continue.” With each breath they declare to the stars and wild silence. By night and by light, sea turtles glide always, their parallel universe strangely alien, yet intertwining with ours.

  Riding the churning ocean’s turning tides and resisting no urge, they move, motivated neither by longing nor love nor reason, but tuned by a wisdom more ancient—so perhaps more trustworthy—than thought. Through jewel-hued sultry blue lagoons, through waters wild and green and cold, stroke these angels of the deep—ancient, ageless, great-grandparents of the world.

  Earth’s last warm-blooded monster reptile, the skin-covered Leatherback Turtle, whose ancestors saw dinosaurs rule and fall, is itself the closest thing we have to a living dinosaur. Imagine an eight-hundred-pound turtle and you’ve just envisioned merely an average female Leatherback. It’s a turtle that can weigh over a ton.

  Pursuing such a creature requires traveling through time as well as across space. To fully understand the Leatherback and what it means to people, I traveled with those who still worship it, those tracking it with satellites, and those whose valuation of sea turtles merely reflects their own lust and cravings. Such travels bring you face-to-face with animals, villagers, fishermen, and scientists who’ve staked their whole lives to the species’ tumultuous fortunes.

  Of course, one must also travel with the creature itself, one-on-one. To follow the Leatherback is to experience the vast and magnificent oceanic realm that is the sea turtles’ theater on Earth, encountering whales, sharks, tunas, and the gladiator billfishes that share the stage and play their roles. It is to hear the ancient whispering wisdom of these creatures’ long histories of survival.

  My main motivation, as always, was to explore how the oceans are changing and what that means for wildlife and people. To travel with the Leatherback is also to explore a critical dichotomy of the changing oceans: the Leatherback—that gravity-generating centerpiece of our narrative—has declined 95 percent in the Pacific during just the last two decades. Yet the good news is that in the Atlantic, sea turtle recovery is the mode, with some populations growing exponentially. Many people
are now working to carry this success into the Pacific.

  Nowadays seven sea turtle species stroke the ocean. In descending size they are: Leatherback, Green, Loggerhead, Flatback, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, and Kemp’s Ridley. (No one seems to recollect what riddle “ridley” refers to.) They swim warm and temperate seas worldwide, but Kemp’s is restricted to the North Atlantic, and the Flatback dwells only in Australian waters. Sea turtles are big animals. Even the smallest adult rid-leys pull the scale to eighty pounds, and adult Greens and Loggerheads sometimes reach over four hundred pounds (close to two hundred kilos). But the heavyweight among heavyweights, sumo champion among turtles, is the Leatherback, whose average weight is more than twice the Green and Loggerhead’s maximum—and its record weight, five times as heavy.

  Leviathan the Leatherback made science’s acquaintance in 1554 when Guillaume Rondelet, a French physician, introduced it in his Books on Marine Fish, in which True Figures of the Fish are Presented. The Leatherback’s Latin name, Dermochelys coriacea, means “leathery skin-turtle.” That skin is a dark blue-black with whitish pointillist spots, like an Australian aboriginal painting. Its back, that thick, resilient shield, bears seven longitudinal ridges, in form very much like the streamlined, friction-shedding denticles covering the skin of sharks.

  Though the shell is turtles’ signature design feature—and all sea turtles except the Leatherback live within rigid shells—Leatherbacks have, in a sense, no shell. Their ribs do not meet or fuse but remain an open latticework. Rather than a hard-bone carapace shingled with scaly scutes, the back forms over a jigsaw mosaic of thousands of small, thin—only a few millimeters—bones, overlaid by a thick matrix of oily fat and fibrous tissue. The belly consists only of a fragile, narrow oval of bone that’s filled in with an expanse of heavy fibrous tissue several centimeters (more than an inch) thick. Rather than a domed back meeting a flat belly, the whole animal is rounder, more barrel-shaped. In different languages the Leatherback’s names refer to its shape. In the Caribbean, for instance, it’s sometimes called Trunk or Trunk-back.