ISLANDS AND LIVEABOARDS
FLORIDA
PALM
BEACH
INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
NASSAU
THE BAHAMAS
USA
Shear Water
Liveaboard
Text and images by JANE MORGAN
Jim swept into the arrivals hall at West Palm
Beach airport with a huge grin on his face. He had
come to pick me up via Florida Atlantic University
where he had collected one of the highlights of
our trip. Safely packed in the back of his pickup
truck were four baby turtles ready for release.
Their temporary home was a small cool box, the
kind you would normally expect to see a few iced
beers in, but this one held a far more precious
cargo – two greens and two loggerheads. Jim
Abernethy is best known for his adrenaline-fuelled
shark-diving expeditions, but he is always looking
out for that little added extra to make the trip a
bit more special.
The moment a newly-hatched sea turtle reaches
the sea, it demonstrates a behaviour known
as frenzy swimming. The hatchlings have so
many predators that this hyperactive swimming
technique is essential to give them the best
chance of making it offshore and into currents
that help them find suitable nursery areas. If this
early behaviour is postponed due to a satellite
tag fitting, then Jim delivers them directly into
the Florida Current, a part of the Gulf Stream, in
order to give them the best chance of survival.
His expertise in the area helps him to choose the
perfect release sites dependent on the type of
turtle he is releasing. Greens and loggerheads
require weed-lines, mostly sargassum – floating
seaweed that creates a miniature ecosystem
providing food and protection for a few years
SDOP
88
– whereas leatherbacks need to avoid these
completely and so are dropped into blue water.
It was a wonderful experience lifting the tiny
flapping reptiles gently out of the cooler and
placing them in the sea where they belong. It’s a
rare opportunity to see such young turtles in the
wild and an experience that will stay with me for
many years to come.