INDIANANGLER

for all the wildlife lovers out there:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... -swim.html

the national geographic site is brilliant. ive been a regular for ages now. in the article it talks about all the difficulties the leatherback may have faced on its journey. but i know for a fact that the biggest danger to this species are human beings. i recently saw a 6.5 footer (shell alone) scuba diving in sanur, bali in december and even the local who was with me was absolutely amazed because they are a delicacy and non that size have been see around for a very long time. i am not the kind of person to say whether the culture of eating an animal is wrong or right, but it definately is thought provoking. iam sure many of you are subscribers of nat geo but have a look at the website. they put up some great stuff now and then. i shall remember to post a link if something nice comes up now and then.

regards.
vikram

Giant leather back turtles can be found off the coast of South Wales and Cornwall in late summer.
If you're detirmined to see one, this is actually a very good location.

Sadly, I suspect that turtles nesting arround India's coasts are doomed through a combination of people eating the eggs and light polution from beach properties leading the hatchlings in the wrong direction.
Only last month I had a conversation wioth a guy who was telling me that he'd spent part of the previous night with his hand under a beached turtle taking the eggs (which were subsequently eaten) as they were laid.
I asked him how much they were worth and it was less than 40 rupees. When I told him that if he'd offered to take a small group of tourists (without torches of camera flashes) to see the spectacle of a turtle laying her eggs, he'd easily have found 6 people willing to pay 1000 rupees each, he simply didn't believe me.
Just goes to show that as is so often the case in India, he knew the price of everything and the value of nothing....

Exactly the same could be said of people dynamiting rivers containing mahseer or poachers chasing down the last few Asian Rhino !

BTW. If anyone knows the number for the authority that's suposed to be protecting Goa's turtles, I'd appreciate it. I'm more than happy to print and post up some posters encouraging tourists to report anyone accosting turtles and suggesting that if they see any flipper tracks in the early morning that they take a few moments to obliterate them.

i too saw a guy in lakshwadweep who was taking eggs while they were being laid. sad sight. gave him 20 rupees to leave them alone but i am sure he took them anyway once i was on my dive.

so now to cornwall for the mola mola and turles.

Vikram, it looks lke Northern Ireland is the plae for you if you're feeling impatient http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 447985.ece