Photo: Courtesy Ernesto Rivera
Southwestern’s turtles and fishes are gone.
But they are okay.
In fact, they have successfully transferred.
SC’s turtle pond was demolished along with the 300 buildings in October. A new IT data center and classroom complex will be built in its place. The turtles were transferred from SC to SeaWorld in April. A bigger pond was planned for the new science building, but was scrapped at the last hour, according to biology instructor Dr. Megan Eckles-Estrela, the last caretaker of the pond.
She said the turtles were hard-shelled ambassadors for peace.
“For me, the story of the pond is one of collaboration and teamwork among not just staff and faculty, but administrators,” she said. “The pond has brought together divisions of the campus that would normally not interact directly with each other.”
Peace-by-Turtle had many supporters, Eckles-Estrela said.
Jonathan White, director of the Veteran Resource Center, was one.
“I offered to help where I could,” he said. “I would just help to keep an eye on it. If the water level was low, I would let her (Eckles-Estrela) know.”
He also fed the turtles, he said.
Caretakers worked together to relocate the turtles, said Eckles-Estrela.
“Everyone had the same goal, the turtles needed to be fostered,” she said. “We needed to work together to find a place for them.”
Relocating the pond to the new MSE building was considered, she said. But a late redesign eliminated las tortugas.
“The spot where the pond was going to be lacked enough depth for the turtles to survive,” she said.
SC’s Botanical Garden was also considered, Eckles-Estrela said, but nixed.
Botanical Garden ponds have fish, she said, and the presence of turtles in these ponds would effect the ecosystem. Turtles may have eaten the fish and their waste would change water quality.
Eckles-Estrela said college officials decided SeaWorld would be a safe home for the turtles.
“The (Southwestern College) Foundation was able to connect me with SeaWorld’s animal care department,” she said. “They were thrilled to have the turtles.”
On the day they were transferred, Eckles-Estrela took the turtles out of the pond, put them temporarily into plastic drawers and drove them to SeaWorld.
“The turtles got the warmest welcome at SeaWorld,” she said. “It was incredible.”
Eckles-Estrela gently marked the turtle’s shell with a circular file in case the college wants them back, and to identify them in case someone wants to visit them at their new home.
“Gently, I set it (the file) up against the edge of the shell, and just spun it with my fingers so it ground away a little bit,” she said. “It’s just like filing your nails. It’s an established way of marking turtles in the wild.”
Marks can last up to a decade, she said.
All 25 goldfish taken out of the pond were fostered by a student, said Eckles-Estrela.
Plants were also adopted.
“All the plants that were around the pond are being fostered by either faculty or staff,” she said. “Nothing that was in the courtyard with the pond died during the demolition process. The pond didn’t die, it just dispersed.”
The pond was sustained by volunteers and donations.
“Resources for the fish and turtles were always donated,” Eckles-Estrela said.
Acting Director of Facilities Aurora Ayala said there are no contingencies to building a new pond on campus.
“To build a pond for the turtles is not in our plans,” she said. “But neither was the turtle pond and it turned out to be something beautiful for the campus.”
