PRODUCTS FROM THE SEA 355 



animal. It is obtained from the hawksbill or caret turtles 

 (Plate 124), species of which live in warm waters throughout 

 the Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the Atlantic from 

 Brazil in South America to the Carolinas in North America. 

 They are extremely ferocious beasts with powerful jaws — 

 toothless as in all turtles but armed with horny plates — 

 with which they seize the fish, crustaceans and large 

 molluscs on which they feed. They are usually caught 

 when they come ashore, especially in the breeding season 

 when they lay their eggs in the sand. The shell, of which 

 the best quality is found on the oldest turtles, is very thick 

 and has to be separated from the underlying bone by heat. 

 It can then be moulded to the desired shape by immersing 

 it in hot water. These turtles have been caught in such 

 numbers — 2,040 kilograms of shell were exported from the 

 Philippines alone in 1909 — and usually before breeding 

 that they are in serious danger, unless protective measures 

 are enforced, of becoming exterminated. 



The flesh of the hawksbill is of very poor quality, though, 

 as in the majority of turtles, the eggs are much sought after 

 as food. The green turtles (Plate 124), found in the Atlantic 

 and Pacific and Indian Oceans, are the most valuable 

 of the edible turtles and the source of turtle soup. They 

 are vegetarians, browsing on the roots of the eelgrass, the 

 bitten stalks of which rise to the surface and indicate to 

 the fishermen the whereabouts of the turtle. They are 

 usually caught in the " bullen," consisting of a heavy ring 

 of metal to which is attached a deep net with a rope at the 

 end. This is dropped over the feeding turtle which, 

 alarmed, rises quickly, becomes entangled in the net and 

 is hauled to the surface. The turtles are then confined in 

 " crawls " — large pens constructed in shallow water — until 

 needed for shipment to the market. The females are also 

 caught on shore during the summer when they come on to 



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