Ashwin's Turtle Rescue Mission
chrisyretchanya

Ashwin's dad has been transferred to Odisha. This news bothered him and his younger sister so much because he had to leave all his friends. He and his family moved to an apartment in Odisha, which was very near to Girimatha beach. Ashwin the 4th grader, learnt about the beach nearby he was so excited because he was very fond of the beach. He enjoyed it so much that, he would spend the whole day, collecting shells and making sandcastles and watching the waves wash them off.

A certain day in summer, he got a peculiar sight. Some patterned rocks were crawling. "What could it be?", he wondered. As he watched more keenly, he got the sight of a head, four stubby legs and a puny tail popping out of it! TURTLES! He was thunderstruck. Nothing could have fascinated him so much. His joy knew no bounds, as he shared it with his parents and sister, who joined him the next day. As days went by a few of his friends joined them. What a sight it was to see eggs of turtles buried in the seashore sand. A few days later, the eggs hatched, and baby turtles crept in the brown sea sand. Wow, it was nature at its finest!

A couple of months later, they could hear the clamor of bricks and slabs, bulldozers and bricklayers. It was an amusement park that was constructed near the beach. It had dance stages at night with wonderfully furnished lightings.

The next summer Ashwin and his friends went to the seashore to see their turtle friends. They were shocked to see a lot of dead baby turtles in the seashore. They wondered what could have happened. The lights from the park have made those little ones stay on shore and that they have been a prey to predators. Some were stick inside plastic bags, which were thrown out as garbage.

They decided to do something about it. They started cleaning up the seashore. The boys asked their school management for help, and they happily offered them help in every way possible. They distributed pamphlets with photographs of their lovely times with turtles last year to create awareness.

Soon it was brought to the attention of the park officials, and they took all measures not to disturb the turtles' habitat. The direction of the blazing lights was changed. The usage of plastic in that surrounding was also banned. Ashwin and his friends were appreciated an awarded for taking the right measures for preserving life below water. What cheered them much was that they would to be able to see the turtles again.

Nurture Nature for its Future!