Kemp's Ridley Release
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We were lucky to be at Aransas Pass when the national park at North Padre Island released a clutch of newly hatched Kemp's Ridley turtles. It was an experience to remember forever. RAY
I was there for the "frenzy"
On the Padre Island shore
The day the park rangers
Set the tiny turtles free.
Eighty-eight babies
Struggled to the gulf,
And I was there to see.
They paddled and pushed their way
Toward the morning sun.
One hundred fifty watched--
I was only one.
A net extended over them,
Protection from the gulls.
Flags on long poles waving
Made the bandits mull.
The babes like bite sized cookies
Sanded with brown sugar.
They moved away with purpose,
Each one near the other.
In a decade the "arrabada"
Will follow a storm ashore.
Each will leave a "clutch" behind
Of maybe a hundred more.
Copyright © Ray Dillard | Year Posted 2017
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