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What I learned from rescuing Freja the Sea Turtle:

iPhones do not like to be submerged in sea water; especially not for over an hour. Jon, my tech wizard, has declared my phone deceased. A moment to hang my head and mourn my phone. It was my mobile office as well as main phone number, but if saving Freja cost me my iPhone then so be it. Totally worth the price. Though I am wondering if ATT stores are open on Fourth of July?

That kneeling on sand and broken seashells at the surf line is shallow-ish water is hard on the knees. I didn’t notice until the turtle was safely rescued, but once the adrenalin began to fade – ouch. I haven’t had skinned knees like this since I was little. Again, totally worth it, but Neosporin is my friend.

That a lot of people have wonderful stories about their own wildlife rescues. Kudos to all of you that have helped rescue our feathered, furred, and scaled, fellow beings. I felt very honored to be in the right place at the right time with the right information to help out Freja the Sea Turtle. (Though honestly as a subadult we have no real idea if she’s female, or male. I think I chose female because I first thought she’d laid eggs on the beach.)

I also thought she was a hawks bill sea turtle, but I was wrong, goes to show you how I know about sea turtles. Freja is a subadult Loggerhead sea turtle. Turns out I’d switched the name and image in my head between the Leatherback and the Loggerhead sea turtle. I don’t know why but that huge black shell of the Leatherback that hangs in the Turtle Hospital had stuck in my head. So, Freja is a Loggerehead sea turtle and is a common species here in the Keys. All sea turtles are endangered, so common is a relative term.

There was no turtle to rescue this morning but there was a piece of plastic in the surf. Sea Turtles have poor eyesight and most are very fond of jellyfish. In the water a plastic bag looks like a jellyfish to them, but the plastic bag, or enough plastic, can kill them. So, if you want to save a sea turtle take a few minutes to clean up any beach you’re on, and think that with every piece of trash you pick up you may be saving a sea turtle’s life. By that math, I saved four of them this morning, because that’s how many pieces of plastic I found on the beach. So, I’ve helped Freja and all her relatives, and the beach in front of the house looks better. I mean, really, guys, do we want to be swimming through plastic bags and other garbage? I know I don’t.

And, last, but not least: Happy Fourth of July! To those of you not in America, or unfamiliar with the holiday, it’s American Independence Day! We celebrate with fireworks, grilling meat, picnics, getting too much sun, being in, or near, water if we can, and some add alcohol. I do not recommend large amounts of alcohol with water, sun, grilling over open flame, and fireworks. It just sounds like a good way to drowned, sunburn, just plain burn, and blow your hand off. Enjoy, but be careful out there.