A few decades ago the wife and I at the Aquarium in SFO. It was late and we were alone in the room with the big octopus tank. The octopus became very interested in interacting with us. I swear if I had more arms to wave around and could change color, we could have had a pleasant conversation. It even followed us to the end of the tank as we left. One of those animal contact moments that make you realize we are not so different...and we ain't special either.

That Netflix show...I gotta remember to watch it. TY for the reminder.

Having always lived with tortoises, it's kind of a lifelong thing for us. Turtles and tortoises of size are usually as smart as an average dog, not something that should be eaten when there are other choices.

The Galapagos tortoises were almost wiped out, and some species were, because the ships going by the islands would just fill their holds with them, and eat them when they needed food.

A link to a very short article: https://www.mexperience.com/travel/outdoors/sea-turtles-in-mexico/

Here's the actual regulation that went into effect in 1990: http://www.seaturtle.org/mtn/archives/mtn50/mtn50p1.shtml

Stupid question...why are turtles so protected?
They seem to be quite abundant.
..

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54724723

The good news is that COVID actually helped the turtles lay more eggs this past year.

The bad news is that it appears they are still in danger of extinction.

Octopi should also be protected and respected. Not eaten.

https://youtu.be/3s0LTDhqe5A

Stupid question...why are turtles so protected?
They seem to be quite abundant.
..

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54724723

The good news is that COVID actually helped the turtles lay more eggs this past year.

The bad news is that it appears they are still in danger of extinction.

There is a new "hatchery" just south of La Perla, next door to Casa de los Pajaros. It's hard to miss, decorated in bright colors with a turtle on the front.

The eggs they dig up are in bad places, places where the high tides expose them and they will just wash away with no chance of hatching.

This morning the high tide was at 7:30am, and in many places the waves came right up to existing fences or natural barricades. Any eggs that were between the fences and the water line are very often lost.

This time of year we get a lot of nesting turtles, more when there is moon light, less with no moon. This morning there were only 3 visible haul outs, but again, the tide was VERY high. We had a count of 46 just 10 days ago.