The results come as a surprise to Race fans. Cali, sponsored by the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California, is a small turtle compared to the larger, more experienced competitors in this year’s Great Turtle Race. He fell behind in the more than 6,000 km oceanic marathon, and even failed to place, but strong performances in the diving competitions resulted in an overall victory for Cali. His coach, U.S. Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau and all his supporters at the Bullis School are thrilled with his triumph.
Cali completed 148 dives longer than one hour, and he dove deeper than 800 m on five separate occasions during the race, thereby securing first and second place in these two events. For comparison, the world record human free-diver, Sara Campbell, dove to a mere 96 m only one time and only for 3.5 minutes!
“Hats off to Sara Campbell of course, but these turtles are really built for long-lasting, deep dives” said Bryan Wallace, Conservation International scientist and Deep Sea News contributor. “Cali showed some remarkable ability in these events, especially in an impressively talented field.”
The Iron Turtle is a “triathlon” event consisting of the marathon race from Canada to the Caribbean, the deep diving event, and the long diving event. Backspacer, the turtle sponsored by Pearl Jam, won the gold in the race, followed by Seabiscuit and Nueva Esperanza for silver and bronze. The scoring system used by Deep Sea News judges for the Iron Turtle award was based on USA Swimming rules, awarding five points to first place, three points to second, and one point to third place.
Deep Sea News blogger Peter Etnoyer said, “Our mission is to promote awareness of the deep-sea and the animals that live there. The Iron Turtle competition was the perfect way to be a part of the Great Turtle Race, and to celebrate these endangered turtles.”
Cali, an adult male leatherback, was unique among his competitors because when researchers from the Canadian Sea Turtle Network (www.freetheleatherback.com) first found him prior to the Race, he was entangled in fishing gear. After the Canadians freed him, he was off to the races with the other turtles, but his ordeal is a reminder of the many threats that leatherbacks and other marine animals face in today’s oceans.
“Cali faced and survived a very serious threat that many of his turtle brethren fall victim to,” commented Roderic Mast of Conservation International, race co-organizer, “but he kept on swimming, like turtles always do, and even got a very prestigious award for his troubles. Congratulations to all the turtles, their coaches, the staff, and the sponsors for making this year a truly “great” turtle race.”
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For more information about the Iron Turtle award visit: http://deepseanews.com/2009/05/and-the-winner-isand-the-winner-is/
For more information about the race see: http://www.greatturtlerace.org
For more information, please contact:
Peter Etnoyer
Blogger, Deep Sea News
Email: peter.etnoyer@tamucc.edu
Phone: 323-356-1207
Roderic Mast
Vice President, Conservation International
Email: r.mast@conservation.org
Phone: 703-341-2685
Deep Sea News is a popular academic blog established in 2005 with a mission to raise awareness of the deep sea and the animals that live there. For more information about Deep Sea News, visit http://www.deepseanews.com
Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth’s richest regions of plant and animal diversity and demonstrate that human societies can live harmoniously with nature. Founded in 1987, CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents to help people find economic alternatives without harming their natural environments. For more information about CI, visit www.conservation.org.