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James Moloney has started ’Saving Bertha’s Babies‘ but needs your help finishing it. Bertha and her babies are in danger as an oil tanker is dangerously close to shore and a storm is coming.

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Saving Bertha’s Babies
James Moloney

Out on the reef, the sea is never completely dark, not even at night when its colours turn to black. Sometimes the moon, always the stars are there to shimmer across its jellied surface. On this night there was a man-made light as well, yellow-tinged and strong, close to the torch held in Dr Amstad’s hand, growing weaker the further away he shone it.

‘There’s one,’ he cried. ‘Sophie, can you see it?’
His daughter responded quickly, running through the cool sand until her feet were illuminated at the pale circle. At the centre of that circle a dark shape moved slowly, so slowly in fact that the girl could drop to her knees beside it and still keep up easily.

‘Come closer Eamon. She won’t hurt you,’ Sophie called over her shoulder and moments later a second pair of feet arrived, those of her cousin from Brisbane. At fourteen, Eamon was a year older than Sophie, but he’d never been out on the reef before and he hung back.
‘Are you sure? I’ve heard that turtles can snap your arm off with one bite.’
‘Not this kind. It’s a Green Turtle. Harmless. Besides, I think I know this one. I used to ride on her back when I was little.’

That seemed to satisfy the boy who sank down cautiously beside her. ‘It’s huge,’ he breathed, genuinely impressed. ‘The shell must be a metre and a half at least.’
‘Carapace. The shell’s called a carapace.’
‘Whatever.’
‘Can you read the tag?’ called Dr Amstad from behind the blinding torch.

Sophie leaned forward, wiping the mossy slime from a plastic tag clipped securely to the carapace. She read out a series of numbers, then called quickly, ‘It’s her, isn’t it, Dad. It’s Bertha.’
‘Sure is.’
‘Bertha?’ asked Eamon.
‘The biggest female in Dad’s research project. Every year she’s the first to come ashore. Lays a squillion eggs. You watch, it’ll take her all night.’

And watch they did, as the Pacific Ocean sighed gently against the shore behind them. A dozen other females eventually joined Bertha, heaving themselves out of the water and towards the dunes. Once they reached the softest sand, the hard work began, digging a hole with no more than their awkward flippers. Only when this was the right depth could they begin to deposit the pearl-white eggs, one at a time. Turtles never did anything in a hurry.

Sophie and Eamon went off to sleep in the dunes, waking only when Dr Amstad roused them at dawn. ‘Look, Bertha’s the last to go.’

Sophie ran down to the water’s edge in time to see the carapace sink into the waves. When she returned, her cousin was standing on the highest dune taking in the scene around him, the palms whispering the name of the breeze, the gulls hovering above them, the steadily strengthening sun touching the landscape with gold.

‘It’s a paradise,’ said Eamon as he came down to join the other two.
‘To those turtles, it is,’ said Dr Amstad. ‘Tell him why this beach is so special to them, Sophie.’

The girl winced. She was proud of all she’d learned from her scientist father, but she didn’t like showing off, especially to a cousin she’d only just met. ‘Green Turtles lay their eggs on the same beach every year, the same beach they were born on.’ They clambered into the open runabout that would carry them back to the mainland. ‘Take the wheel, Sophie,’ Dr Amstad ordered, rather deliberately.

This time Sophie didn’t mind showing off. She was way too young to get a boat licence, but her dad had already taught her to handle the craft like an expert. As she guided them smoothly around the point the sunlight suddenly lost its intensity. A glance to her left picked out bruise-coloured clouds between the ocean and the pale blue above.

Storm coming, she decided silently. Better get this boat home, pronto.
But before she could adjust her course, Dr Amstad called, ‘Cut the engine for a moment, Sophie.’ He was already reaching for a pair of binoculars.

‘What is it?’ Eamon asked, standing beside him now that the runabout had stopped in the swell.
‘There’s an oil tanker on the horizon,’ Dr Amstad answered. ‘Normally we don’t see them because they sail further out from the reef. That one doesn’t seem to be moving, either. I don’t like it, not with that storm blowing in behind it. No, I don’t like the look of this at all.’

~

The oil tanker came so close that you could see pitch black goo leeching out of a hole in the side. 'That's where the reef must have punctured it' Dr Amstad growled. 'Flaming oil tankers. Dirty! Filthy! That's what they are'.
'Still', Sophie mused, 'Shouldn't we call the S.E.S or something maybe the RSPCA'.
'Why the RSPCA?' 
'Duh, isn't it obvious the turtles are in danger.'
'You're right there, Sophie',  Dr Amstad sighed 'You're right there'. (Submitted by Eva, age 10)

~

'Woah! When you said said an oil leak I thought you meant a few litres in the bay but this...'  The S.E.S worker paused, 'I'd better get some backup'. 'I'm so glad that some people care' Sophie said 'cos these turtles are going to need all the help they can get', everyone nodded. (Submitted by Eva, age 10)

~

Sophie called the RSPCA for back up to save the turtles. Her dad went to the pharmacy and bought some soap and toothbrushes so that they could give them to the RSPCA so that they could clean the turtle shells.

While Dr Amstad was at the pharmacy a helicopter landed and some men with guns came out and said "stop or we will shoot." to the Oil Tanker.

The captain of the Oil Tanker responded, "We are on an important mission - get out of our way!"  (Submitted by Veronica and Dillion, age 7 1/2)

~ 

The leader of the men with guns growls "Whats so important that you can disregard a Navy leader's command?" Just before the captain can answer, a Navy officer taps his leader on the shoulder and holds up blueprints and brochures of a plan and says "Look what I found!" (Submitted by the Grimm sisters, age 12 1/2)

~

"What's this? You want to destroy the reef so you can make an on water oasis resort! There's no way that you are going to do that! These are rare Australian Green Turtles. If you kill the turtles our tourism rate will go down to about 500 - that's a 1000 person drop."

Meanwhile back on the beach Eamon calls out to Sophie who is waiting at the carpark for her father.
"What Eamon?  Have you found out anything?" (Submitted by Gracie, age 11)

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