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| Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. |
While I always thought turtles were one of the cuter reptiles, I never knew they had such a powerful and sexual side. But when their mating practices delayed my flight last Wednesday from JFK to Chicago for forty five minutes, I realized I had severely underestimated the force of their libido. According to FAA spokesman Jim Peters, seventy eight turtles were sitting on a JFK runway on the morning of July 8, delaying some flights for over an hour and a half.
According to an article in USA Today online, a few Diamondback terrapins were spotted first at about 8 AM. Flights were halted a couple hours later when the Federal Aviation Administration got reports of the “massive number” of turtles. Peters said this was not a first for JFK, as the airport has seen several turtles in past years, usually around at the end of June and early July.
According to another USA Today article, ground crews took about thirty-five minutes to collect the turtles and put them in “brackish water farther from the airport property.”
A New York Times City Room blog post showed a more romantic side to this surprising flight delay. John Kelly, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, “They tend to look for sand while they are mating,” and “presumably, all these turtles were feeling amorous.” The runway activities may even verge on the risqué, as, according to Kelly, it remains unclear whether the turtles participated in “slow, sweet love” in couples or as a group.
Like the recent article in the New York Times about the Obama’s relationship inspiring spouses everywhere to bring more romance to their marriages, these turtles should inspire us to slow down and take some time for romance.