More cabbages and kings

"The time has come,' the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax -- Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- And whether pigs have wings." (The Walrus an the Carpenter, Lewis Carroll)

It's a lovely, rainy Sunday afternoon (and we really need the rain) - a perfect time to catch up a little.

I often use Charlie Corbeil's beautiful photos on here. Many of those photos come from the Viera Wetlands, where Charlie can be found every morning and every evening, taking pictures and checking up on things. A couple of years ago, I introduced Charlie to a friend who at the time was the editor of Viera Voice, a local monthly newspaper. Thereafter, every issue had one of Charlie's photos in it. Recently, Viera Voice took it to the next level and produced a charming video featuring Charlie in the Wetlands. It's on YouTube, and the link is in Reference Links below. I was amazed at how "un-nervous" Charlie was - and his love of the area and the inhabitants comes through loud and clear! (The photo is one I took of Charlie and the Viera Wetlands sign featuring one of his photos.)

David McRee did a terrific post about Blair Witherington on his Blog the Beach site (link is likewise in Reference Links below). As faithful readers know, Blair and Dawn have spent their summer out on boats in the Gulf rescuing oiled sea turtles. I recently sent a card featuring one of Jim Angy's sea turtle hatchling photos to Fed Ex, with a note thanking them for their generous donation of resources to transport the coolers full of eggs from the Gulf Coast to Kennedy Space Center (see last couple of posts for a description of this monumental task). There's a link below to a Fed Ex site that describes the logistics involved in the transport - a very impressive effort. And the good part is, according to a recent story in Florida Today, it's working! The story reports that since 11 July, some 2,600 hatchlings have been released from KSC beaches. The eggs are hatching at an 80 percent to 95 percent rate, better than in the wild. An added bonus is the lack of artificial lighting on the beaches where the hatchlings are being released, so there's less disorientation.

I was so touched when co-workers in another state recently made a donation in my name to the Audubon Nature Institute Sea Turtle and Marine Mammal Response Fund for "rescuing, rehabilitating and successfully releasing stranded and injured sea turtles and marine mammals." The Beatles said it well - we get by with a little help from our friends.

Friend Marilyn and I attended the third annual Tour de Turtle release at the Barrier Island Center last Sunday. This event is sponsored by the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), formerly the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC). The last two releases were over an hour after the advertised time of 8:00 a.m., so one had to hang around on a hot beach while the resin affixing the transmitter cured. So I suggested to Marilyn that we plan to arrive about 9:00. Well, wouldn't you know - as we pulled in, cars were pulling out. A quick-curing epoxy was used in place of the resin, and Hope (so named in a contest) swam out shortly after 8:00. The good news is that there was a record crowd of spectators (over 600), and we bought cool t-shirts. And ate a good breakfast at Friendly Toast on the way home. Check the STC link below for Hope's progress.

Reference Links:

Charlie Corbeil on You Tube

Blog the Beach post about hatchlings and Blair

FedEx participation in sea turtle egg relocation

Sea Turtle Conservancy