Wings of the sea by Hélène David-Cuny
Failaka island – Kuwait
This one does have a latin name since 1758 (Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas mydas) but I was very lucky to meet her on the beach, as they have become very rare in the Arabian/Persian Gulf due to excessive fishing (they are not particularly sought for by fishermen but happen to get caught in the fishing nets).
She was obviously trapped by low tide on the sand, as the water runs away very far quite quickly due to the very slow slope of the beach near the coast. I first thought she hadn’t survived as the water was away since many hours and she must have spent all of the afternoon under the hard sun of summer without water. But when I approached she started to move and appeared to be well alive, just waiting for the tide to come back… So I let her in peace, not to add the “stress of the paparazzi” to her probably psychologically straining day…
Comments
Great capture, Hélène! Beautiful detail, and the reflection on the wet sand gives it context. Hope she made it back into the water!
(Tip: also add the latin name to your keywords, the full name as well as the genus, for a bit of SEO.)
Thank you Marjolein, I can trust you always have something to say about the typological aspect ! ;-)
– Hélène David-Cuny
… and had to google for SEO, it was not Species Educational Opportunity ! ;-)
– Hélène David-Cuny
She is beautiful and you cropped her just fine…also enjoyed reading her story!
I do have lots of sympathy for the sea turtles…age old creatures of our earth!:))
Thank you Helua ! They were my neighbours in Oman for many years, so they have always kept a special place in my heart too…
– Hélène David-Cuny
What a beautiful capture of this big turtle, Hélène ! A touching eye to eye encounter, I imagine… What are her colours ? :)))
Unsurprisingly, she is green (although the zoological book says she gets her name from the colour of her fat and not from that of her shell). But I was amazed how the nuances of the scales on her claws look like bird feathers… And yes, she has such expressive dark wide eyes… Thank you Anne !
– Hélène David-Cuny
Wonderful Helene both the find and the image.
Thank you Peter, it was a nice moment to discover her…
– Hélène David-Cuny
You did well, Helene. The detail is remarkable.
Thank you Sheila ! She is much more colourful than the omani ones I used to know (or maybe is it because I mostly met the latters at night when they came for nesting…)
– Hélène David-Cuny
Excellent work. An observant person discovers wonders.
Thank you very much for this nice word Fred !
– Hélène David-Cuny
beautiful – love the title, the story and the picture, Hélène
Thank you Paul ! My environment is a bit wild at the moment but quite photogenic as well…
– Hélène David-Cuny
Tres beau et tres bien fait, Helene.
Merci John !
– Hélène David-Cuny
Thanks for sharing with the Art of the Middle East group.
Thank you Eyal !
– Hélène David-Cuny
great shot!!