COVER N. 489 - USA

Postmark: Protect Sea Turtles First day of Issue Corpus Christi, TX 78401 11.06.2024

Posted on ?; Received on the 15th July 2024

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Sea Turtles. Those incredible beings that spend their entire life swimming across oceans and continents, only to return to the place where they were born, no matter how far,  to make sure their offspring will begin their race at at the same starting line as their forbearers, thus perpetuating an endless story, an endless circle ,....

When the ping-pong ball look alike eggs hatch the race begins... guided by instinct they begin their journey, and their ordeal, for only one in a thousand (some say one in ten thousand) reaches adulthood. And the first menaces they have to dodge are faced right along the few metres they have to cross to reach the water of the ocean, for all sorts of predators, from birds to crabs, wait to feast on them..If ever they make to the water, then sea creatures are added to the list of predators, like large fish and sharks...

many years later it is plastic, sea drifting nets,  and us, or just us, because we're also behind the plastic and the nests..... Turtle soup, turtle eggs...

In Mexico, I  once watched a bucket full of freshly hatched seat turtles being freed into the ocean.... They let me take a little loggerhead in the palm of my hand for a few metres before I laid it down again and watched her as she "swam" across the sand into the ocean.... I wonder if she is till around... 

On my first class of theory of literature at the university, the teacher gave me a poem to analyse. I think it was by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and it was about a sea turtle which was laying eggs.... the first line was "you rise from the sea..." I cannot remember the rest. Sadly I cannot find it  anywhere...I'm sure it would fit in this post quite well.

Thank you so much for the great FDC, and stamps A.W..

On 11JUN2024, USPS issued the 5 "Forever" self-adhesive stamp set themed on sea turtles that cab be seen on the cover.

Species depicted are, Left to right, top to bottom:

- Loggerhead (Caretta caretta)

Probably the most common member of the species, it can be found in all the world's oceans. When adult, it can weigh up to 450 kg, and the carapace can grow up to 90 cm in length.

When I was a lad in the Azores these were not uncommon sights for fishermen and I remember going on a boat once with a local naturalist to tag and return a couple of them to the sea.

Classified as Vulnerable by IUCN

- Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)

A critically endangered species which is also distributed all across the world in tropical and sub-tropical ecosystems.

when adult they average 1 metre in length and 80 kg of weight but a 127 kg specimen was once registered.

- Green (Chelonia mydas)

Another tropical and sub-tropical dweller with a world wide distribution.

Listed as Vulnerable, the Green Turtle's carapace can grow up to 1.12 metres, adults weighing up to  315 kg although there are records of a specimen weighing 390 kg.

- Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea)

The largest of the existing sea turtles, it can grow up to 2,7 metres in lenght with a weight of up to 500 kg, its main differentiating feature being the fact that the carapace is not hard and bony, like that of its cousins, being soft and leathery, hence its designation.

A global ocean dweller, it is listed as vulnerable.

Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)

The rarest of the sea turtles, listed as critically endangered, is an inhabitant of the Gulf of Mexico. Its carapace in adulthood can reach up to 70 cm, its weight topping at a meagre 45 kg.

The First day Postmark was applied at Corpus Christi, a coastal city in the Gulf of Mexico, on whose shores sea turtles come to lay their eggs.

Just hatched: Me grabbing a little loggerhead from the hand of the member of the staff of the turtle protection enclosure. In the back, someone is holding a baby green turtle. Flashes were prohibited and the photo was taken at 1600 ISO, making good use of an head lamp of one of the staff members. Most of the operation was done under red light, so as not to confuse the little turtles.