My Life in a Tank

Ana Esther

I’m a VIST –Very Important Sea-Turtle. People from all over the world pop in to see me. After I tell you my story you’ll understand why.

Let me introduce myself: I’m a 21-year-old Loggerhead Sea-Turtle. I live in a tank of the Tamar Project research centre in Florianópolis, a city in the south of Brazil. People who look after me still don’t know whether I’m a male or a female because sea-turtles will only become adults around the age of 28. My carers call me Pit-Bull because I got cranky one day and bit the salt-water pipes of my tank. Who wouldn’t get stressed living in such a small tank?!

My every day routine is always the same. In the morning, tanks are emptied and cleaned. I have my carapace (that’s my shell!) brushed and my skin rubbed with a sponge. Later, when tanks are full with sea-water again, the park receives visitors. By late afternoon it’s dinner time: 300 grams of chopped fish meat! As I’m in captivity I eat regularly -my poor relatives in the oceans can go without a bite for three months! At night I sleep at the bottom of my heated-water tank for about 6-8 hours. Then I need to come up for air… and the same routine starts again!

Mission in life

I have an important mission: I help alert visitors to the threats sea-turtles face. Not only natural predators, like birds and crabs, but fishing nets, garbage thrown into sea waters and too much night light in the nesting beaches can also kill loads of my relatives.

Tamar Project researchers have found my egg on a ‘forgotten’ nest in the north-eastern shore of Brazil. Loggerhead Sea-Turtles lay around 120-150 eggs but not all of them hatch, that was my case. My egg was kept, they waited till it hatched and then brought me here as a cute hatchling! Now they study my development and my habits. They also use me to show people how beautiful sea-turtles are and how we’re necessary in the natural environment.

Double-trouble visitors

The park receives visitors and school excursions for leaning experiences. Kids and teachers love my parkmates and I, they ask all sorts of questions. Volunteer students who work here give all the answers and show them around. We have such fun together when people are kind to us and well-behaved… but sometimes people get so excited that they drop cameras and mobile phones into my tank! Wow, it’s such a fuss… One day a man did some terrible mischief. When all volunteers were busy, he trespassed the railing to tease the Hawksbill Sea-Turtle. She was so scared, she bit his finger! Goodness, it was havoc. It took much effort to convince the Hawksbill to let go of the bully’s finger. Poor turtle remained stressed a long time afterwards… We appreciate when visitors respect us and are not very noisy.

Now you see the relevant role of turtles of Tamar Project in helping science! And that’s my contribution to preserving the environment. When you’re passing by Florianópolis come visit me!

*I first wrote this story as an Assignment due to my tutor Jill McDougall for the course I took on Professional Children's Writing (2006-2007) at Thomas Education Direct (Australia).