Live from the Pacific Princess

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
om...

RF soon the turtle came over
RF and he was feeding it those nuggets, sometimes picking up a piece of
RF dead coral with the fungus on it and let the turtle pick it off,

That indicated a VOLUNTEER act by the turtle.

That indicates good training to me. Obviously when tourists aren't around
they beat the turtles into submission, just like the dolphin experiences
beat the dolphins into staying inside the water-level nets.

The "rubble" was the bottom of the "Canyon" which you probably dived. It
was about 60 fsw, completely clear of any obstruction or barrier that
the turtle might mistaken to be a captive cage.

Perhaps, but I wasn't looking for captive cages when I was diving there. I
did feed pellets to turtles at the Grand Cayman turtle farm if that helps
any.

I have seen and swam with HUNDREDS of turtles, big or small. NEVER
have I found one incapable of swimming away from any harrassing diver
if the turtle chooses to.

Really? I've already found that twice, both involving wrecks

There're times and places to hug a tree, but this ain't the right one.

Now you're saying there were trees there too among the rubble? Why didn't
you say so in the first place? That perfectly explains the turtle's
behavior.

In article , Reef Fish
wrote:

€ "Greg Mossman" wrote in message
€ ...
€ "Jer" wrote in message
€ ...

€
€ He may have
€ felt captive because of all the bubbles. After all, Navy scientists have
€ been doing top-secret experiments on turtles and they all told me that
€ turtles feel captive around bubbles and will therefore eat anything offered
€ to them to the point where their stomachs burst.
€
€ I am sure that was what chilly based her silly remark. I assume your
€ paragraph was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
€
€

It was certainly planted somewhere :-)

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
om...
"Greg Mossman" wrote in message
...
"Jer" wrote in message
...

Well, there was no indication he was forcing the animal to do unatural
acts (other than the turtle seemed conditioned to respond that way),
nor
was he pretending cheeze whiz was major food group.

But you assume the turtle was really hungry and wanted to eat. Perhaps
he
felt intimidated by the divers and ate even though he was full.

Perhaps you (Greg) assumed that a turtle doesn't know how to swim away
from divers.

But you missed the MOST important clue that the turtle WANTED to eat:

RF soon the turtle came over
RF and he was feeding it those nuggets, sometimes picking up a piece of
RF dead coral with the fungus on it and let the turtle pick it off,

That indicated a VOLUNTEER act by the turtle.

RF The BIGGEST pieces of such fungus were found
RF by the turtle itself, from the rubble -- three to four inches long.

That's an unmistakable sign that the turtle is a BETTER food-picker
than the DM. The one piece the turtle found itself was bigger than
half a dozen tiny pieces of nuggets the DM found.



He may have
felt captive because of all the bubbles. After all, Navy scientists
have
been doing top-secret experiments on turtles and they all told me that
turtles feel captive around bubbles and will therefore eat anything
offered
to them to the point where their stomachs burst.

I am sure that was what chilly based her silly remark. I assume your
paragraph was made with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

The "rubble" was the bottom of the "Canyon" which you probably dived. It
was about 60 fsw, completely clear of any obstruction or barrier that
the turtle might mistaken to be a captive cage.

I have seen and swam with HUNDREDS of turtles, big or small. NEVER
have I found one incapable of swimming away from any harrassing diver
if the turtle chooses to.

Unfortunately, I have seen divers holding onto the turtle's shell and part
of their nether regions. Didn't look like the turtles could get away to me.


There're times and places to hug a tree, but this ain't the right one.

-- Bob.