Carl Safina - Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earths Last Dinosaur

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 dinosaurmales weigh up to 2,000 poundsand 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 leatherbacks 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 Safinas eye-opening investigation into the leatherbacks 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 giants unique natural history, gauge the effects of human intervention, and track the sea turtles migrations across the worlds 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 leatherbacks survival. Safinas 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

In Pursuit of the Earths Last Dinosaur

CARL SAFINA

Henry Holt and Company, LLC
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New York, New York 10010
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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 Earths 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
597.9289dc22 2005055023

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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 turtles 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

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 entre 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 its done; publisher-fisherman John Sterling; and my fine agent, Jean Naggar. Bonnie Thompson, the worlds 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.