This is another turtle story. No, it’s different from the sea turtle babies in Burgos town which I have written about. But the stories are related.

This is about a sea turtle found sun bathing in the beach of Dasol, a neighbor town of Burgos.  The ever-reliable Ava Sharon Batay-an ( I guess her name came from Maureen Ava Viera, not sure of the spelling, the girl from Aruba who won the heart of Filipinos during a Miss Universe pageant held here. Forgot the year but I know she landed fourth in that beauty contest. Sharon, of course, could have come from Sharon Cuneta. Who does not know her? Or Sharon Stone? Have I lost you yet?) sent me a text message on Sunday about the sea turtle found by the fishermen on the beach.

Ava said it measured  58 cm by 47 cm. “Could be a hawksbill, but I’m not so sure about the species,” she said.The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will tag the sea creature and then release it to the wild, wide sea.

“Could it be the mother of the baby turtles in Burgos?” that’s me asking Ava.

She answered: “No, this is still young, about 3-4 years,”

“Looks like you’re attracting sea creatures in the western Pangasinan beaches,” I texted back. “What’s next, a siokoy (male version of mermaid)?”

You see, just weeks ago, she told me about the wounded dolphin that beached in Dasol. Then the sea turtle that laid eggs. Then this “young turtle.”

“Young” made me think: Since sea turtles are known to live for 150 years, at what age are they of reproductive age? And up to what age can they be productive?

Anyway, thanks to environmental groups like Tanggol Kalikasan of which Ava is an officer, people in the western Pangasinan are getting more aware of the need to protect the ecology the role of sea creatures in maintaining the ecological balance.

They also get “entertained” by the creatures. And I, like them, am learning about the mysterious life in the sea.