Greg J. Hipius'
Online Photo Gallery
Caribbean Cruise -
July,
2005:
Turtle Farm (Grand Cayman)
Our third stop in Grand Cayman was at a large turtle farm. Giant concrete pens filled with water housed many hundreds of large adult turtles, and visitors could watch them swim about; it was a real challenge to get any shots, since the water was dark enough so that pictures were not picking up the turtles when submerged, and they only breeched for a moment unexpectedly to take a breath - it basically required a patient aim-and-wait strategy, timing the press of the button when you think a turtle is about to breech so that the momentary delay on the digital camera before the photo would prove to align with the moment it took for the turtle to show itself. I only got a couple good shots, and they are shared below.
You'll also find shots below of the pens in which younger turtles are nurtured and grown. All stages of life were represented, and the baby turtles are especially cute. I have a few baby turtle shots, as well as adolescent turtles (no, none are rebellious and punked out).
Of course, the dark side of this particular attraction is the purpose of the turtle farm, which is the same as the purpose of a beef cattle ranch in the states. In Grand Cayman, the use of turtles for food is not outlawed, so these turtles from the farm are all destined for a soupbowl or other serving method. However, it isn't as bad as it sounds; since the turtles are legal for consumption in the area, the turtle farm actually helps preserve the wild population by supplying an overwhelming share of the demand, leaving little need to hunt/trap turtles in the wild.
