akelly3d57b6655d7-ldzov

Hey! My name is Vasa, and a little something about me is that I’m a Hawksbill turtle. Born and raised in Samoa, hence the name “vasa”, meaning the open ocean in Samoan. Given to me as a hatchling by my sister, Limu, who had a habit of teasing me for my desire to travel the world and venture into the open ocean. I’ve spent most of my life so far on the reef, where I watch the same stingray families lazily pass through and I graze on the same bland sea sponges that I’ve grown tired of. Sometimes I’ll wave hello to the starfish that cling to the rough coral. I don’t believe they ever recognize me but I like to think they’re my friends. A few turtles from a couple reefs stop by every once in a while to drift through warm currents with me or graze on beds of sea sponge. Or at least they used to, every year more and more of them began setting off on migration until eventually no one was left to come visit my reef. Every couple of years the older turtles come back from their travels to tell me stories from the shores of Vanuatu and coastal reefs of Nicaragua. All of their stories highlight pristine warm waters and delicious sponges to eat. I listen to their stories for hours, memorizing each detail and hoping that I’ll be able to have the same experiences in the future. Some of the oldest turtles tell me not to get my hopes up so much, but I just can’t help it. All I’ve wanted since I was a hatchling was to drift out into the deep blue waters and see where the current takes me. Maybe I’ll find myself in Fiji, or the Cook islands, or possibly even Honduras. Life’s quite boring here and I think I’m ready to explore this vast open ocean. Fortunately, this year I’m finally old enough to venture out and migrate with the others. Usually us hawksbill turtles migrate independently, but I just couldn’t imagine not having my sister Limu with me while I embark on this adventure. She’s two years older than me and already had the chance to explore on her own so thankfully she was keen to be my companion during migration.  I’ve certainly outgrown this little reef of mine and I’m so eager to see what my story holds for me.