K Es ever told me of this. But i was way more excited when i met them myself. sooo enormous! and i swam with them--uhm, my feet did. it was turtle sanctuary off the coast of Benoa. near Nusa Dua.
i'd seen many more of them at Pulau Pramuka, but this time, I walked with them. Kewl!
i was afraid they would bite me, but the guide said no. they're peaceful. but hey think the hawksbills bite. but since they were not seen, i thought it was safe for me to plunge into their bordered residence.
the feeling was high and the fear was present (they have poor eyesight, the guard told. but they can smell food--me!) but the excitement was overwhelming. All the 20 of them!
they're cute, i should say. they swam and ignored me. one of them went ashore ( i bet the biggest) and let us touch him. it was an olive ridley. the shell is hard as rock but surprisingly the neck is very soft. amazing creature.
most of them stay there for three months and after that must be released to the ocean. "and we don't allow them to return because they should be there [in the ocean] and breed," said the guide. She put a criss cross mark on their shell with sharp knife.
i thought they were kept in order to breed, but "the water was not deep enough for them to perform courtship."
how could?
"hey, i've been here for ten years and never sees any attempts succeed."
Ah, well
There i saw green turtles, hawksbills, and some more species. also present were an owl, two super curious ravens, a boa, an iguana, a dog faced bat, a monitor, and a big family of black seahorses. lovely.
