Against The Odds

Diane Tennant's new series. Part I: VIRGINIA BEACH
On the luckiest day of the year, a turtle crawled out of the ocean at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
On 7-7-07, a spotter on a dawn drive down the beach saw a huge swath in the sand where flippers had dug in and pushed, where a belly had dragged. It was a sign that a sea turtle had dodged fishhooks and boats and pollution and poachers long enough to lay a nest.
Some say only one turtle out of 1,000 eggs will survive to do so, will live past the age of 20, will make its way back to the same beach where it hatched, and reproduce. Some say only one in 5,000 will.
That July day, a loggerhead turtle beat the odds. She left the sea at high tide and in darkness, dragged herself over the sand and dug a nest. In the rhythm of eons, she laid a clutch of leathery white eggs.
Among them was one that would become known as No. 62. This is what happened to it.

On the luckiest day of the year, a turtle crawled out of the ocean at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

On 7-7-07, a spotter on a dawn drive down the beach saw a huge swath in the sand where flippers had dug in and pushed, where a belly had dragged. It was a sign that a sea turtle had dodged fishhooks and boats and pollution and poachers long enough to lay a nest.

Some say only one turtle out of 1,000 eggs will survive to do so, will live past the age of 20, will make its way back to the same beach where it hatched, and reproduce. Some say only one in 5,000 will.

That July day, a loggerhead turtle beat the odds. She left the sea at high tide and in darkness, dragged herself over the sand and dug a nest. In the rhythm of eons, she laid a clutch of leathery white eggs.

Among them was one that would become known as No. 62. This is what happened to it.

Part II here.