Teeny. Tiny. Turtles.

It's TURTLE season here in the Arabian Gulf!! For about two months, the turtles have been nesting on the beaches in the UAE, and just recently, they've been hatching!

Every day in the past eight weeks has seen numerous volunteers get up at 4-5 am and patrol the beaches, looking for turtles, turtle nests, turtle tracks in the sand, and sea snakes, shells, exercise, or a sunrise walk. Almost every Monday morning, my family and I patrolled Saadiyat Island, but so far, no one, no matter the day, has found a nest. Not in two whole months. That is not the case everywhere, fortunately, and other places have seen as many as fifty nests in one long stretch of beach. Saturday evening, we were invited, in a short-notice Facebook post, to help release about 35 BABY HAWKSBILL TURTLES. So presh.

NOW, THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...

PICTURESSS!!!!

Baby turtles pre-release

Happiness overload.
I can't tell who is more precious, Ben, or the turtle.

Turtle selfie!

Holding the turtles pre-release

Walking to the beach where we would release the turtles

Weird patterns we found on the beach.
We asked one of the supervisor people what they were.
Do you know? DON'T GOOGLE IT, give it your best shot!
I'll tell you at the end.

Bringing out the turtles for release

Most of the people who were able to RSVP in the less-than-one-hour, short-notice sign up time.

Kids pic with the turtle we were given to release. Ben's holding Sea Flap Flap Smartie.
I wash my hands clean of anything to do with the poor thing's name.

This was our turtle, making her way out to the big blue!!

Unfortunately, not all the turtles made it.
The one on the far left was very weak, but breathing, and the others are dead.😭

This is an illegal fishnet being legally repurposed to keep foxes away from turtle eggs!

And that, my friends, was the end of one of the BEST weekends I've ever spent here. The combination of turtles and their innate awesomeness and cuteness made the hour's trip out there easily worth it. Turtles are love, turtles are life.😍

So, this thing. What on earth is it? Unless you guessed aliens, the answer is more fascinating and strange than you might expect. The little balls of sand scooped and rolled around are made...

*drumroll*

by crabs. Dead serious. When a male crab is trying to impress a female crab, he will sometimes "draw" in the sand. This is the masterpiece made by a tiny little pincher who made the poor decision to design it very close to the waves. Quick! Preserve it in the Louvre!!