This morning, I swam with turtles. No, no not as part of an organized sea excursion, where the turtles are enticed to approach swimmers with tasty morsels. No, I was simply swimming on a quiet beach.
I spotted a small one, then a second, then two more, much bigger, in quick succession. Always the same scenario… a large dark spot visible below the surface of the limpid water. A rock maybe? No, the spot was moving. Some seaweed, perhaps? Then, what seemed to be a small piece of wood emerged from the water. A branch? No, not a branch either as it disappeared immediately. Could it be a turtle? These two clues seemed to indicate it could be.
There was only one to find out for sure… to swim gently while scanning the transparent turquoise water. Suddenly, all doubts were erased. There it was, just two meters away from me, with its big shell rising out of the water. So massive, yet so light! Just for a few seconds, it offered itself up to my enthralled gaze, then disappeared. Only to reappear meters away, this time accompanied by her little family.
And so, for almost half an hour, I followed in the wake of Mummy Turtle & Family, swimming quietly. I was lucky enough to witness those furtive moments when the turtles briefly popped their heads above water or offered the spectacle of their large shells moving rapidly forward, their legs gliding in the clear turquoise sea.
Time seemed suspended, nothing else mattered but being close to them. How can I even begin to explain the feeling that came over me upon seeing them? Maybe it is because their chance at life seems so tenuous from birth, given the dangers they must overcome over the years just to survive, before finally acquiring that look of quiet strength … they are true fighters. You can read more about their destiny in my article, "A turtle's life" https://oceaninspiration.ch/en/ocean-blog/a-feel-good-newsletter/life-as-a-turtle
Author : Jihane Sfeir
English Translation by Joy Lewis (https://www.aaatranslationservicesbb.com/en/)