Temptations & 'Egg'stra Special

Jun 14, 2012 at exactly 6:05:00 PM in , , ,

Temptation is the desire to do something we know isn’t right. And no matter how strong our self-control is, we all have to face it at some point or another. It’s just a matter of how strong the temptation is.

It would be so much easier if everything was black and white—if it were easy to distinguish between right and wrong, so you could just make the obvious choice. The problem is that this is not the case. Bad things are often wrapped up in shiny disguises, promising to lead us to happiness. It may deliver on that promise for a short while, but only until the mask is stripped away, revealing the false promise for what it truly is.

One reason many teens fall into temptation is because of peer pressure. One example of this is smoking. Many teens take up this bad habit because other people their age are smoking, and they think it will make them look cool. However, just because your friends are doing something doesn’t necessarily make it right. And you don’t have to follow their example, especially if you know they’re doing something wrong.

Often, something will tell us when a situation is not right. It’s called our gut feeling. We know it’s trying to tell us something when we get a bad feeling as if something is gnawing at our conscience. It then becomes our choice to listen to it and back out of the situation we’re in.

That said, not all temptations are bad. I’m pretty tempted to eat a couple of chocolate chip cookies right now, and that isn’t a terrible thing. Stuff like that is okay every now and then, and it’s important to know the difference between what is okay and what is not.

There is no guide that tells us how to avoid temptation, and even the best of us may fall into its greedy grasp. All we can do is try our best to resist and have strong convictions for what is right and wrong since these will help us to make good decisions.
A crucial part in increasing turtles‘ population is, of course, protecting the turtles’ eggs.
At night, females go to the shore where they were born and lay approximately 50 to 160 eggs, which is called a clutch. Turtle eggs are like soft ping-pong balls. While buried, they absorb moisture, and the baby turtles get nutrients from the eggshells, making the shells thinner and more fragile over time.

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the place where they are buried. Females can be produced at any temperature, but males can only be produced at 84°F (28.9°C).

Baby turtles hatch en masse and break through their shells using a small white tooth on their snout, which was designed for this express purpose. The reason they come out at the same time is so they will be able to collectively dig their way out of the sand and avoid predators that are eager for a quick meal.

Unfortunately, many eggs do not survive, which is why turtles lay so many eggs at once. Those that do hatch do so at night and race to be swallowed by the great seas where they will have to escape hungry animals that are much larger than they are, even before they reach adulthood. Many are snatched up by predators of the sea and air as they cross the sand into open water. The highest risk is in the first hour after entering the sea. During this time, up to 97% of the hatchlings are eaten.

Turtles also lay eggs in East Malaysia, but sadly, they are considered a delicacy, and there is a black market for collectors. There have been efforts to counter this, but the practice continues. We need to put an end to this once and for all to save these beautiful animals.