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18/05/2005: "TURTLE SOUP"

Hunting turtle for food is legal for locals at Murray Island.
Murray Island is close to the border between Australia and Papua New Guinea, way out in the northern Coral Sea. There are many stories possible about the people and lifestyle of this remote community. It is isolated but far from primitive, young people attend boarding schools on the mainland and return home for holiday.

Turtle eggs (pictured) are all yolk, the 'white' does not turn hard as in hen eggs. Turtle meat is being stewed in pots over an open fire. The lady (without normal hands) is the victim of the drug thalidomide taken by her mother during the pregnancy. At the time of our visit, the mother had been unable to seek legal advice and compensation.

The turtle soup label comes from the past when such reptiles were captured commercially.

Elsewhere, concerned people have donated vast sums of cash ($1M from one family) for ecological and turtle protection programmes at Raine Island only to have the principal funds 'evaporate' in unfortunate poor investments. A story being kept quiet. Interestingly Raine Island and the natural turtle death traps is forbidden territory for ordinary folk to visit - especially documentary film crews.

THALIDOMIDE: a crystalline solid, C13 H10 N2 O41, formerly used as a sedative until it was discovered that it could effect the normal growth of the foetus if taken during pregnancy.