Northwest Dive Club

Does anyone know of a turtle in the PNW that lives in salt water? I was walking along the marina at Shilshole (By Golden Gardens in Ballard) and saw a turtle swimming along between c/d and e/f docks. It looked to my Minnesota sensibilities like a snapping turtle (pointed nose, obvious points on shell, clawed feet) and had a shell about 10" in diameter, about 12-13" long. I called out to a woman on her boat and asked if she had ever seen a turtle here in salt water, and she said "only in the Caribbean". A man and woman walking by were equally disinterested.
I watched it swim until it reached the dock and was mostly out of my sight, but it remained on the surface the entire time it was swimming so it wasn't difficult to see the details.
After having read about some of the "misplaced" fish and rays people have spotted on here, i was tring to make sure I got a good look at details, but I couldn't find anything on local webpages that looks anything like what I saw, and I don't want to jump to the conclusion that it is a misplaced small sea turtle.
gomi_

Yeah, that's Fred. He comes and goes. :rr:

Glad to hear Fred is doing well. Guess he's moved to Golden Gardens now - he used to hang out around Cove 2.

Honestly dude - there aren't turtles around here. Sounds like someone turned a pet loose or it escaped. Probably won't last long in these waters. It could, I suppose, live in the park area around there near fresh-water streams and such... perhaps it comes to the salt water to feed? I dunno.

FWIW, there aren't any sea turtles in Puget Sound... but then again, I didn't know of any Mola Molas here either... until recently. Aaah global warming is alive and well.

Perhaps Fred will become octo food... or six gill food... or more likely sunflower star food!

a turtle? that would be weird! no pictures???

thelawgoddess wrote:a turtle? that would be weird! no pictures???

Fred is a little shy at times.

Any more sightings of Fred?

Interesting stuff! I agree it sounds like a pet that was turned loose.

Just a reminder that although people think they're being kind to their pets by doing this 'releasing into the wild' - it's one of the known ways that invasive species are introduced into other areas.

But more likely Fred will wind up being renamed Shark Bait (hoo ha ha!)

- Janna