Every year, countless sea turtles arrive on the shores of Veracruz, Mexico, to lay their eggs on the beach before returning to the ocean. Sadly, for one turtle mom-to-be, it nearly became a one-way trip.
Norma Angelica Diaz Velazquez is a volunteer with Campamento Tortuguero de Santander, a local organization that protects and monitors the turtles’ nesting sites. While on patrol recently, she and her colleagues came upon this:
A turtle whose digging near a tangle of tree roots led to her getting trapped.
It’s unclear exactly how long the turtle had been stuck in that position, her shell wedged within the root system, but she appeared to have no way of freeing herself.
To make matters worse, as the team worked to dislodge her, the turtle pressed forward in fear — digging deeper into the shoreline.
The team worked to cut her free of the roots surrounding her, knowing they were in a race against time.
By the time a path had been cleared of roots, the turtle had become almost entirely buried in the loose soil and sand. She was still heading in the wrong direction.
But with a few vigorous hoists on her shell, the turtle was soon put back on the right course.
The Dodo contacted Campamento Tortuguero de Santander to learn more about this incident, but our request for comment was not immediately returned.
Though understandably exhausted from that long ordeal, the turtle eventually made her way back out to sea — hopefully to return to safer ground upon which to lay her eggs.
