Stupid turtle / Tortuga boba

La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.

I SAW A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE yesterday about a turtle that had laid its eggs on the beach just a few minutes from us. It was extremely unusual. Turtles don’t select such busy and easily disturbed sights for their nests. In the story, the turtle was called a “tortuga boba.”

I know “tortuga” means turtle, but wondered what kind of turtle it might be, so I entered the words in Translator and what came up was “stupid turtle”! Well, maybe so. After all, it did lay its eggs on a heavily trafficked public beach. Still, I didn’t think the reporter would have written that. So, I googled “tortuga boba” and learned it’s actually a loggerhead turtle. This is the first time one has been known to nest on the coast of Málaga. The nest was immediately cordoned off. The eggs were then carefully removed by herpatologists and taken to another, safer location along the Málaga coast. Some eggs were taken to Bioparc Fuengirola (our exceptional zoo) for care during their incubation period.

THE COMPUTER REPAIR SERVICE I had chosen had several locations. I contacted the shop here in Fuengirola, but received a reply (without being aware) from the owner in Málaga. In his last email to me, he included a banner that displayed the Málaga address. I noticed it when I was about to leave the house. A taxi to the shop in Málaga would cost about 50 euros and take more than 30 minutes. Each way. A taxi to the shop in Fuengirola would cost about 6 euros and take 4 minutes. And once I was rid of the computer, I could walk home — on the beach if I liked. I wrote and asked if he was in fact in Málaga and not Fuengirola. The owner had previously responded immediately to every one of my messages. It’s been 24 hours. He still hasn’t replied. Anyway, yesterday afternoon I reinstalled the operating system myself. I spent most of the evening reinstalling software. Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office applications are all working perfectly. The only thing I screwed up is my back-up. I have an external hard drive that backs hourly. I’ve regularly checked it and everything was up-to-date. But, somehow, everything was not up-t0-date when I plugged it back in yesterday to retrieve my files. The biggest loss are the recent photos I hadn’t yet used. I keep a Microsoft Word archive of my blog — not wanting to rely solely on Google Blogger or WordPress for that. My archive, oddly, only goes up to late 2018. So I’ve got nearly two years of blog posts to archive again. Not so bad really. My computer works!

.

AYER VI UN ARTÍCULO EN un periódico sobre una tortuga que había puesto sus huevos en la playa a pocos minutos de nosotros. Fue extremadamente inusual. Las tortugas no eligen lugares tan ocupados y fácilmente perturbados para sus nidos. En la historia, la tortuga se llamaba “tortuga boba”.

Sé que “tortuga” significa “turtle”, pero me preguntaba qué tipo de “turtle” podría ser, así que ingresé las palabras en el traductor y lo que salió fue “stupid turtle” (tortuga estúpida). Bueno, tal vez si. Después de todo, puso sus huevos en una playa pública muy transitada. Aún así, no pensé que el reportero hubiera escrito eso. Entonces, busqué en Google “tortuga boba” y descubrí que en realidad es una tortuga boba. Es la primera vez que se sabe que anida en la costa de Málaga. El nido fue acordonado inmediatamente. Luego, unos herpatólogos retiraron cuidadosamente los huevos y los llevaron a otro lugar más seguro a lo largo de la costa de Málaga. Algunos huevos fueron llevados al Bioparc Fuengirola (nuestro excepcional zoológico) para su cuidado durante su período de incubación.

EL SERVICIO DE EPARACIÓN de ordenadores que había elegido tenía varias ubicaciones. Me puse en contacto con la tienda aquí en Fuengirola, pero recibí una respuesta (sin saberlo) del propietario en Málaga. En el último correo electrónico que me envió, incluyó un banner que mostraba la dirección de Málaga. Lo noté cuando estaba a punto de salir de casa. Un taxi a la tienda en Málaga costaría unos 50 euros y tomaría más de 30 minutos. Cada camino. Un taxi hasta la tienda de Fuengirola costaría unos 6 euros y tardaría 4 minutos. Y una vez que me deshacía de la computadora, podía caminar a casa, en la playa si quisiera. Le escribí y le pregunté si en realidad estaba en Málaga y no en Fuengirola. El propietario había respondido previamente de inmediato a cada uno de mis mensajes. Han pasado 24 horas. Todavía no ha respondido. De todos modos, ayer por la tarde reinstalé el sistema operativo yo mismo. Pasé la mayor parte de la noche reinstalando software. Las aplicaciones Adobe Creative Suite y Microsoft Office funcionan perfectamente. Lo único que arruiné es mi respaldo. Tengo un disco duro externo que retrocede cada hora. Lo revisé regularmente y todo estaba actualizado. Pero, de alguna manera, no todo estaba actualizado cuando lo volví a conectar ayer para recuperar mis archivos. La mayor pérdida son las fotos recientes que aún no había usado. Mantengo un archivo de Microsoft Word de mi blog, no quiero depender únicamente de Google Blogger o WordPress para eso. Mi archivo, curiosamente, solo se remonta a finales de 2018. Así que tengo casi dos años de publicaciones de blog para volver a archivar. No tan mal en realidad.

Last night’s moon.

La luna de anoche.



Sunrise on the beach today. / Amanecer en la play hoy.
Remember Tuesday’s photo from Atlantic City, New Jersey? The modern Spanish version.
Recuerdas la foto de martes de Atlantic City, New Jersey? La versión moderna de España.
Preceding three photos thanks to La Opinión de Málaga newspaper. The first shows the protection of the turtle eggs. The final two are when they were moved.
Precediendo tres fotos gracias al diario La Opinión de Málaga. La primera muestra la protección de los huevos de tortuga. Las dos últimas son cuando fueron movidos.
Following the loggerhead turtle’s path from the sea.
Siguiendo el camino de la tortuga boba desde el mar.
Working on his … flexibility? Ouch! / ¿Trabajando en su … flexibilidad? ¡Ay!

Author: Moving with Mitchell

From Brooklyn, New York; to North Massapequa; back to Brooklyn; Brockport, New York; back to Brooklyn... To Boston, Massachusetts, where I met Jerry... To Marina del Rey, California; Washington, DC; New Haven and Guilford, Connecticut; San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Santa Barbara, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Irvine, California; Sevilla, Spain. And Fuengirola, Málaga..

21 thoughts on “Stupid turtle / Tortuga boba”

  1. Maybe the mother turtle just couldn’t hold the suckers any longer. I’m assuming that turtles just leave their eggs and don’t come back, because it would be awfully cruel to remove the eggs and not tell her where they’re going 🙂
    I’m happy your computer is working again, Scoot. You have a lot more patience than I do.

    1. Deedles:
      Yep, they just leave their eggs. Gestation is anywhere from 53 to 68 days depending on where they live. Regarding the computer: If I don’t dwell on the fact that I’ve lost about a year’s worth of photos that hadn’t been used, I’m very pleased with how it all went… .and is still going. It HAS taken some patience (that I don’t always have).

  2. I wonder if the turtle felt the beach was acceptable now because it’s quieter in the age of coronavirus? Do you think that’s true? It might not be a “stupid” turtle so much as a change in human activity that made nesting possible. (Anyway, I’m glad they moved the eggs.)

    Congrats on installing the operating system, even with the hiccups! I always find it kind of rewarding to do stuff on the computer — I find that I always learn something.

    1. Steve:
      Although as nuts as a usual August here, it’s still very busy, so I don’t know what prompted the turtle to nest here. Yeah, I’m kind of proud of myself for fixing (I hope) the computer on my own.

  3. Probably better they did come take the eggs, because people would be able to control themselves and would probably end up breaking the eggs or disturbing them so much there wouldn’t hatch. Most people don’t realize most wild animals don’t need our protection, they need our absence. Hence why some many species are now endangered.

    1. Mistress Maddie:
      The nest would never survive there. Stupid people, but also daily maintenance of the beach would dig them up immediately. I’m excited to go to the zoo for or after hatching.

  4. We keep finding large turtles in our yard, because of the creek nearby. Unfortunately, we’ve now seen two dead ones in the road that got squished by cars. 🙁

    Sea turtles nest up and down the SC coast, but I haven’t heard of them laying eggs on super crowded beaches.

    1. Jennifer:
      When I was 14, my sister and I watched a turtle begin to lay its eggs on a beach in Miami. It was amazing.

  5. Looks like moving the eggs was the right move. Loggerheads nest on the beach just north of the space center in Florida, just south of the nude beach. Smart turtles.

    1. David:
      So glad someone either saw the turtle during the night or recognised the trail to the nest.

    1. mcpersonalspace54:
      Sunrise is such a magical time on the beach. i was pleased to be able to capture that.

  6. How exciting to have a sea turtle nesting nearby! Apparently they have to be very careful when moving eggs to maintain them with same end “up” all the time. Something to do with keeping the air bubble in the egg from moving around. Hope there will be some viable hatchlings in a few months! I wonder if that will make the news?

    Good work on getting your computer up to par again. I don’t envy the work it will take to back up the 2 years of blog entries, though.

    1. Wilma:
      I haven’t attacked the blog entry archive yet. Ugh. And I’ve been blogging most days in the past two years. That’s a lot of posts! I’m sure the hatchlings at Bioparc Fuengirola will make the noise. Besides, I’ll make sure to be there to see how things go!

    1. Walt the Fourth:
      I’m excited to see how the eggs do at Bioparc Fuengirola. It’s an amazing place for such a little city.

Please share your thoughts...

Discover more from Moving with Mitchell

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading