My favorite island, Part 3

OK - for starters I've "stretched this photo" to better fit the space. I am NOT that chubby as it would appear. Neither is my little friend, a Green Sea Turtle, who when turned away from the water calms down long enough to snap his picture. Rub him on the underside of his head, and he'll actually fall asleep. Rub me on the underside of my chin, and you'll just find I forgot to shave.

Green Sea Turtles are native to the green sea, but can be found in blue seas, high seas, and occasionally even middle C. You'll all remember "Happy Together" by The Turtles, right? On that sour note, I'll move on.

Our guide at the Turtle Farm informed us that 90% of the turtles were raised for domestic consumption. Cayman Islanders love to eat turtle, but these are now protected species, so they cannot eat those caught in the wild. Ten percent of the turtles on this breeding farm are released into the wild, with GPS chips for tracking. A small number of Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are also bred here, all of whom are released into the neighboring sea. The Kemp's Ridley is considered critically endangered and grow only to just under 100 pounds.

The Green can often grow to 700 pounds, and several of this size in the breeding pens reached this weight. Females have short tails, males have long tails, but on formal night a white dinner jacket can be substituted for white tie and tails. Oh, the green name comes from the color of fat underneath their shell. For the record, no turtles were injured in the making of this blog.

Oh yes, the young man who flipped his bike suffered only road rash, which the Jeep driver treated from the first aid kit on board. I told him, just like in NASCAR, "rubbin is racing". His much older friend probably didn't find me funny, as he seemed very upset over this accident which came from following too close. My spouse and I have learned to ride far apart when on bicycles - gravel does not discriminate when you wipe out, and at our age bruises develop quickly.