Great Turtle Race
April 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
When I first heard about The Great Turtle Race on the Colbert Report, I was intrigued. Heck they named a turtle Stephanie Colburtle, how could you not check it out? After visiting the site once, I’ve been hooked ever since.
11 leatherback sea turtles are traveling from the shore of Costa Rica back to their home waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands. A series of conservationist groups have geo tagged the turtles so they can be tracked across their 500+ mile journey. Each 7 foot long, 2,000 pound turtle has been named and sponsored by a different group including: Yahoo, Travelocity, Drexel University, etc.
I’ve eagerly watched throughout each day as the race results are updated every ten minutes or so. Currently Billie is on the verge of victory with a mere 17 miles to go, while fan favorite Stephanie Colburtle holds second at 41 miles out. I’m still pulling for Stephanie, hoping Billie will take a nice deep dive at the end of this trip.
The sad truth behind this exciting public event is that the leatherback turtles are in real danger. The depressing slogan of the site is “going faster than you think”. The irony is these turtles are racing not only towards home, but also toward likely extinction. Check out the Leatherback Trust for more information on what you can do to help protect these amazing animals.
I’m happily surprised to find myself so eagerly awaiting these turtles next migration. In the meantime, I’ll be reading about how their baby’s are doing and learning about what needs to be done to get their population back on the rise.
Update 4/26/07: Billie is the winner!!
Tags: billie, colbert report, conservation, costa rica, extinct, extinction, galapagos, galapagos islands, great turtle race, leather back, leatherback, leatherback turtle, pacific, stephanie colburtle, stephen colbert, tortoise, turtle, turtle race
Perfect Black & Tan
January 5, 2006 | 7 Comments
For my birthday I got the Brutul (brew tool) Lagerhead Black & Tan Turtle. For years I’ve been making black & tans using a bent spoon. I’m hear to say this turtle absolutely rules in comparison. I can hardly mess these things up using the turtle.
They give a great description of how to pour a black & tan:
Simply chill the beer, then half-fill a standard pint glass with the bottom beverage (pour a good head so you liberate the CO2). Place the Lagerhead® Turtle on the rim of the glass, then gradually pour the Irish stout over the turtle’s back to form the top layer.
They also provide the following recipes, some of which I’ve had, the rest I need to try:
Black & Tan
Guinness® - Bass Ale®
Half & Half
Guinness® - Harp Lager®
Blacksmith
Guinness® - Smithwick’s® Ale
Patriot
Guinness® - Sam Adams Lager®
Snakebite
Guinness® - Hard Cider
Black Velvet
Guinness® - Champagne
Blacktop
Beamish® - Fat Tire Amber Ale®
Bohemian
Beamish® - Pilsner Urquell®
Big Easy
Beamish® - Abita Amber Lager®
Snapper
Murphy’s® - Redhook ESB®
Bumble Bee
Murphy’s® - Dundee Honey Lager®
I created one of my own recipes, the “Black & Blue” which is Guinness® - Sea Dog® Blue Paw Wheat Ale. The blueberry flavor bubbles up through the Guinness® producing an amazing flavor.
As a final justification for buying one of these, some of the proceeds of each sold is contributed to the Lagerhead Foundation which funds projects to help turtles.
Tags: beer, black & tan, black and tan, brutul, guinness, irish stout, lagerhead foundation, recipe, recipes, sea dog, stout, turtle, turtles