Can you imagine wintering in Florida? Many people can, for sure, but then they really don’t imagine swimming up to Massachusetts in the summer. The ocean off our shores were once filled with green sea turtles and Kemp’s sea turtles, now endangered due to careless fishing and changing climate.
Every morning staff at the New York Marine Rescue Center feeds the cold-stunned sea turtles a combination of squid and herring. The turtles are swimming further north in the summer and when the season changes, they suffer hypothermia. Many wash up on beaches, dying. They must be rescued and have their body temperatures restored.
These aren’t the small turtles we see in our swamps but huge ones that can grow to as much as 350 pounds. The Center volunteers number and tag them so when they are released in the spring, we can learn more about these gentle giants of the sea. As we approach Earth Day tomorrow, may we remember that the earth includes the ocean.
Prayer for the Day
Joining with all creation, we of the earth sing of your glory,
For you, O God, inspire such awe in us that we tremble;
But even as your glory resounds in our ears, we are caught in trivia,
And are vexed by the little things that seize our days.
Reveal your light through the creatures we see around us
And infuse in us a wonderment of the world you have created.
In the name of the One who walked on this earth,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.
- Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet (1875-1926)
With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live.
- Sylvia Earle, American marine biologist
O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord and bless God’s name and tell of God’s salvation from day to day.
Declare God’s glory among all the nations, God’s marvelous works among all peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Psalm 96: 1-5
Moving like birds in the ocean