Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-26
BIG TURTLES OF THE SEA.
Facts About Great Marine Tortoises and
How They Are Useful
''THosE EGGS NEVER GET HARD


How They Are Useful
"TNHosE EGGS NEVER GET HARD
Il boiled"
As the dealer made the remark he took GU.
OF bucket and handed 10 The STAR reporter
three or four little white spheres Each one
was about an inch in diameter and looked as il
1t was covered with exquisitely delicate canvas
Those were laid by a loggerhead turtle" he
explained. I've seen tortoises Of that kind
which would weigh 1000 pounds apiece. Some
times they grow TO ], 500 or 600 pounds. I'M
derstand- Sea turtles get to be monsters.
There is q kind called the 'leather-back. which
is bigger than the loggerhead; but they are
very rare. However. they aren't good for
much, only their oil being useful for lubrica-
tor.
You take thousand-pound loggerhead and
he will measure seven or eight feet in length
and nine feet across the back. including the
aippers. He is a very fast and strong SWIM
mer, so that you must catch him asleep on the
water if you expect to bag him. Specimens are
often seen many miles from land. floating on
the wave. Unlike the other great sea turtles,
which prefer q vegetable diet, the l0ggerhead
Is carnivorous. 1t has very powerful jaws and
with them it easily cracks the shells of large
conchs. eating the meat. The young ones are
said TO be pretty good IN a stew or soup, brit
those which are full grown are leathery and
musky in flavor. Sometimes the oil from the
fat Is smeared on the sides of vessels to keep
worms from eating the wood.
In the spring the female loggerhead comes
ashore and scoops out pit with her hind lego
In the sand on the south side OF a shoal Then
she lays from $50 to 200 eggs in the hole and
covers them up again with the sand, leaving
them to be Matched by the heat of the sun.
Bears are ever so fond of turtle eggs of all
sorts, and they dig mp the nests wherever they
can find them, gobbling amazing quantities. 1
nave known as many as thirteen nests 20 be
robbed by single bear in one night As soon
as they are Matched the young ones scuttle into
the water. Crabs fishes and shellfish Of all
sorts contribute to the diet of these tortoises.
Turtle eggs are an acquired taste with most
people. although they are not SO with bears.
They have round, yellow yolk and a white
like any other eggs, but you can cook them for
a year and the white part will remain liquid.
We sell them mostly to colored folks. Notice
the curious dimple in the side of each one. II
you squeeze it out the dimple appears on the
other side, and you can never get hold of a
turtles egg which hasn't got a dImple in.
Most of the green turtles that reach the
northern market como from southern Florida
but there is another species on the Pacific
coast. They grow bigger as you 60 farther
south. In this latitude they aren't often found
larger than eight pounds, but at Cedar KEYS
live In deep water and feed on sea plants,
mostly the kind called turtle grass which they
cut OF near the roots. eating the lower parts
and leaving the tops floating. SO that it collects
In great fields and marks the spots where the
animals are to be hunted FOR by the fishermen.
After browsing on such ocean pastures the
green turtles go to the mouths OF rivers for
baths In fresh water, which they seem to need
from time to time. The Florida fishermen say
the reptiles enter the creeks and roll toSethes
masses of grass, cementinS them into balls with
clay. When the turn of the tide takes the balls
out to sea they follow them. The fishermen
watch for such balls floating down the creeks,
and when they see them they stretch nets
across the mouths Of the streams and always
catch the turtles.
In springtime the female green turtle seeks
the shore OF a barren island the bank of a
lonely river to lay her eggs. Being very shy,
she makes q landing at night cautiously and
crawls to point above high-water mark. where
she digs q hole one or two feet deep with her
hippers. In this hole she LAYS from 100 to 200
eggs, arranging them very carefully. Finally
she scoops the loose sand over the eggs, level
ing and smoothing it SO that it is hardly possi-
BILE to tell that there is nest there. The Tor
tugas Islands are a favorite haunt for green
turtles. Pelicans and other big birds frequent
the breeding grounds and snap up the young
ones as they make for the water. dare say
you know that the green flesh attached to the
upper shell is called 'calipash, while the yellow
flesh attached to the lower shell is called Ca
hpee.' From the eggs an oil is obtained, but
what is called turtle oil soap is really made
from beef fat
Sometimes the flesh of the tortoise shell
turtle is eaten, but it lis not good for much.
There are two species-the tortoise she'll and
the 'hawksbilr-with not much difference be-
tween them. Although their diet is a vegetable
one, they are much more fierce than the car
nivorous loggerhead. They bite very severely,
and those who catch them sometimes receive
painful wounds. have understood that the
finest tortoise shell comes from the Indian archi-
pelago and is shipped from Singapore, but
much OF it is obtained on the Florida coast.
There are three rows of plates on the back,
called blades by the fishermen. In the CEN
trail row are five plates. and in each of the
Others four plates, the latter containing the
best material. Besides these there are twenty
five small plates around the edge of the shell
known as feet or noses The biggest turtle
does not furnish more than sixteen pounds of
tortoise shell. Formerly the under shell was
thrown away, being considered worthless. but
at present it is very highly valued for its deli
cacy of coloring. Nowadays a very beautiful
imitation of tortoise shell is made out of cows
horns. Hunting for the great sea tortoises af-
fords good living to many thousands Of fish
men in the world"