Turtle flipper

Truly amazing creatures these sea turtles!

Their skeletons are beautiful.

(Trust me, google it!)

Such a wonderful creature God has made.

They can survive large shark bites as well.

I once photographed one at the Tampa Zoo that had a large bite out of it's side.

Knowing that the shark took part of her skeleton, but didn't hit major organs actually blows my mind.

They are intelligent, beautiful, and endangered.

They can get caught in fishing nets and drown, or get struck by a boat and get bubble butt syndrome.

Bubble butt makes it impossible to dive, because they have air trapped under their shell.

They have to become permanent residents of an aquarium or a place 

like the Turtle Hospital in Marathon Florida.

They have to periodically have weights glued to their shells allowing them to dive normally.

They are endangered because out of a nest of over 100 eggs, only one may survive to adulthood.

Then they have to come back to the beach they were born at to lay eggs.

Amazing, beautiful, curious, and graceful.

So happy I get to create paintings of them!

Turtle Flipper, Acrylic on Shadowbox canvas, 16 x 16

Day 63 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2023