Episode 1

On a warm sunny day, well into the summer season, sat the tiniest of turtles; she rested beneath an old plastic cup that had recently washed up onto the shore. She was so very tired, but had a great distance, yet to go, before she would reach the safety of the ocean.

She’d been crawling toward the water’s edge all night long! Ever since the pull of the moon had awakened her, hours earlier, the tiny turtle was driven out of her warm and protective shell. From the moment of her hatching, she’d discovered that a sandy path could be clearly seen, marking her way to the water’s edge. But she felt very alone, as there were no other baby turtles nearby to accompany her across the beach. This tiny turtle was the last of the seasons babies to be hatched, and she’d been born a full day later than all the other babies… she was alone!

When this turtle’s mother had arrived to lay her eggs, the beach had been overcrowded with other turtles, already on their way back to the water; their nests were already safely buried throughout the area. As she considered where to safely deposit her eggs, hoping to do her duty and then catch up with the rest of her kind, the young turtle mother was approached by several local Gulls. When they suggested she lay her eggs further inland, she thought this a lucky break, as there seemed to be nowhere left, here on the beach.

The young turtle set right to work, finding a soft mound of sand beneath a bush, far beyond where most turtles would venture to lay eggs. Being too far from the beach, meant a longer and more dangerous journey for hatching young. She’d no idea that the two Gulls were up to no good!

By the light of the moon, the young turtle lay her hopes of the future, into a small depression in the sand. She hastily covered the eggs with the sand she’d kicked out of the hole, earlier. Off went the turtle, to catch up with all the others, oblivious to the danger she had placed her children in, by naively taking the Gull’s nesting advice.

The truth of things became brutally evident on the day of the hatching! The birds had been waiting, along with other predators that had been patrolling the beach.

Not one of the little turtles made it to the water, save a single tiny baby, buried at the bottom of the nest pile! Being late to her own hatching, was the very thing that had saved her life! As she now sat under that plastic cup, though grateful to be alive, the little turtle was faced with running to the water, without the safety of numbers.

Who is this tiny turtle?

Will she make it to the water?

Tune in next time, to find out who this little one is, and what is to become of her…