Word: leatherback
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...Eggs from the LEATHERBACK TURTLE, once common throughout coastal Asian countries, are sought as an aphrodisiac...
Think Trinidad and the image that comes to mind is carnival. But far more exotic than the antics of Mardi Gras are the nocturnal activities now getting under way on the sandy beaches of the island's northeastern coast. Every year from March to August, hundreds of giant leatherback turtles - the world's largest reptiles - heave themselves out of the sea to lay and bury eggs on the beach before returning to their tireless traversal of the world's oceans. Two months later tiny hatchlings dig their way out of the sand and head for the sea to continue...
Smaller plastic items are frequently mistaken for prey by turtles and birds, often with fatal results. Leatherback turtles, which feast on jellyfish, are particularly attracted to plastic bags. Says University of Florida Zoologist Archie Carr, an authority on sea turtles: "Any kind of film or semitranslucent material appears to look like jellyfish to them." Trouble is, the bags--or other plastic items like golf tees--can form a lethal plug in the turtle's digestive tract...
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