Other Turtle Discussion :: The Chances of the World Changing, Ogust on PBS *tonight*

[grey goose]

I caught the last half of it. Pretty depressing how he gets treated by the government, along with all the other obstacles he has to go thru....

[SpotsMama]

Well I saw the film. It was stunning. How sad that the turtle institute didn't make it. I hope that, in the end, it failed because it wasn't the best way to conserve turtles, and not because people lacked will. Will we ever know?

Does anyone know why the New Jersey EPA was so hostile? I would have expected it to be helpful.

The film raised an interesting question about extinction. To the extent that extinction of a species is a natural phenomenum, is it right to try to cling to a species, even when its natural environment is lost? Are our energies better spent elsewhere?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I liked it..got it all recorded. The film was realy realy depressing..like the whole 'mood' of it, i dont know how to explain it..it's not very cheery..I guess. It was a realy beautiful film. I expected them to show more turtle species, though.

[SpotsMama]

I think it was more about a man with a dream than about turtles per se. The film maker expected the turtle institute to succeed when filming started, but in the end it was a story about a grand vision that failed.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

yeah..poor guy. I'm surprised that in the end, he just gave everything away, all his tanks, turtles, etc..for free. He could have easily made some serious $$$ off of all that stuff..

But I have a question - did any of you catch that scene where his apt is all white and empty because he is selling it, and there is a refridgerator, and he's pulling ziplock bags out of it, then he pulls out a dead baby turtle. Was there where he stored all his dead animals, or did the poor things fail to survive hibernation? I didnt get it, it was hard to understand with a screaming 7 year old in the background.

[steve]

That was where he was storing dead turtles. That was probably the saddest part of the whole film.

The New Jersey EPA was probably just following whatever rules they have without any insight. It's too bad he didn't actively pursue multiple locations afterwards. I do think he should have bought that second location, and sell it had the EPA not change their position.

Extinction that is the direct result of human ignorance is pretty damning. As the film says, they need time and protection. Extinction as a whole is definitely not a lost cause, especially when you consider the longevity of the whole species. I don't think it would take a significant amount to protect any of these, with the exception of sea turtles. If people thought about what they were doing, many of these species wouldn't need protection at all.

[kmichael55]

darn, i was so excited about it but got too wrapped up in watching arrested development (watched all 3 seasons last night)
I will try to catch the re-airing, sounds like it was a great film, though very sad.

[marisa]

The show definitely presented a different picture of the man than the TV segments I saw several years ago (probably before the downfall really started).

I know the land and buildings in NJ were being offered to him, but I kept wondering why he didn't initially try to start an institute in a more hospitable state. He would have saved so much energy, time and money...NJ is a state where turtles supposedly can't be bought and in theory you need a license to even keep one...

Extinction may be a natural phenomenon, but in this case there's nothing natural about it. These creatures have been around since the time of the dinosaurs (200 million years). Habitats/the environment are being lost as a direct result of human apathy, ignorance and greed. Not to expend efforts to help them survive is a tragedy.

Tears started flowing when I saw him start to sob as he was packing up the frozen turtles.

[kmichael55]

I agree, although extinction can be a natural phenomenon most times it is caused by human greed, taking away their habitats and resources. In that case, I do not feel that it would be interference with nature to try to fix a problem we caused.

It's like the bear situation lately. There have been so many reports of bears wandering in communities, and people are like why are bears suddenly invading our territory...well they have no place else to go, that used to be their territory...it's not like a huge bear conspiracy, we're endangering their lives.

[cleopold]

Because my train broke down, I missed the first half hour. I would really like to see it all the way through. But from the hour I saw, I was really moved by Richard's drive and obvious love for these turtles. The amount of work he put into rehabilitating the turtles was staggering. I was thinking about how traumatized I am when I have to move-- imagine how Richard did that 11 times.

I was sad that the Institute didn't happen, but I realized that there is this grassroots network of people across the United States that are caring for the turtles. These people are really what the Institute is all about. And we who care for turtles in a humane way and promote conservation are also part of Richard's dream.

I don't have the space or the energy to do what Richard and his friends did-- properly care for several turtles and promote the survival of the species. But I was inspired by film and what the director said afterwards, so I made a donation to Turtle Homes this morning. I hope I continue to contribute to herp rescue and conservation efforts.

Turtles are special animals and need to be saved (as do all endangered species).While the film was thought provoking, it is my turtles that have motivated me to care about all turtles. I can't imagine the world without them.

Very sad, but great film.

[SpotsMama]

My sister - a life long fur kid person - watched the show and now she wants to keep a turtle! I'm going to help her find a good one that needs rescuing.

[gameragirl]

A friend of mine in New Hampshire said that the show is on up there tonight.

[SpotsMama]

What I wonder is about the animals facing extinction where their natural habitat no longer exists. Probably the habitat has been destroyed by people but the sad truth is that for some there's no place to go in the wild any longer. Richard Ogust was betting that someday in the future there would again be habitat that the turtles could be returned to if they survived. Something of a gamble.

For me it's kind of academic because if I had a vote I'd vote to do what needs to be done to keep the survivers going until someday there's a wild place for them, feeling that if we broke it, we ought to fix it. But a part of me wonders whether, in a world of limited resources, we wouldn't be wiser spending them on preserving the habitats we still have.

[steve]

It is a dilemma, one that becomes more serious each day since humanity has not curbed it's appetite for natural resources. Not to be political here, but corporations have so much influence over government and the media that it greatly limits to what will change the downward spiral.

Conservation alone will not change much since the impact of our consumption has not been completely realized. On the subject of turtles, I think many of the species can be "saved" and successfully relocated to different locations (with similar weather) so long as they are protected from people and pollution. It will be a challenge, especially if our own government is a huge obstacle.