Turtles, Fish, and Parakeets

We've skipped a lot of chapters here, but let's pretend we haven't. Here's the latest.

Friday night we attended the release of several Olive Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings, which nest right along the Chennai coast here where we live. In just the past few years, Indian environmentalists have begun a strong program to protect these little guys who have been collapsing dehydrated as the move toward the lights of the city rather than the ocean. The volunteer group also protects the eggs from predators and escorts them into the ocean.

We also saw some mother turtles who had been maimed by fishermen, who cut off their flippers when they get tangled in the nets and watched a short documentary about the program. Last year Jane Goodall visited to publicize the efforts to educate fishermen and the public to save the turtles. It was quite exciting to see the little ones make their way into the waves. It was a bit of a mob scene, however, as the entire school community was invited. Still, it was great to see this local community come together--an army of volunteers--to protect this endangered species.



Meanwhile, closer to home, John and Widi are having a field day discovering our nearby hobby shops and pet stores. John got that smallish aquarium for his birthday and it has led to a couple larger aquariums, including a surprise delivery came today of a huge 74 gallon one--bought second hand or so I'm told.

The beautiful tropical fish are very inexpensive and if you look at the closeup shot, you'll even see John's Peacock Eel in the center.

John has been learning a lot about maintaining the right temperature in the tanks and how to combat the various parasites and contagious ailments that have come up. He spends a lot of time reading about the various types of tropical fish, snails, shrimp, and eels that are available here, who gets along nicely with whom (and who needs a separate tank), and what each one needs to thrive. Every day after school, he wants to stop at the aquarium store--just to look and see what's new.

 

Widi even decided to break the cardinal rule of "no noisy, smelly pets" and brought home three baby parakeets this week. John is advising him on the proper nutrition and care for these as well.

They stay outside the house in the foyer area, and while they are adorable, I'm still not excited about it.