Turtle chaos: terrapins delay flights at JFK
By Alexandra Topping, Guardian UK
Air traffic at America’s busiest international airport has been disrupted after turtles wandered on to the runway in search of a sandy beach to lay their eggs.
The turtles began their stately passage across John F Kennedy airport in New York on Wednesday morning, undeterred by the potentially lethal obstacles between their seasonal breeding grounds.
The creatures delayed flights, shut down a runway and forced staff outside to hurry the slow-moving animals to safer ground. Runway 4L was shut down for an hour as Port Authority teams worked to move the animals, the New York Post reported.
Continue reading Guardian story here.
Carol Van Strum included the lyrics to “Terrapin Station” by the Grateful Dead when she sent this story along:
Terrapin station
Inspiration, move me brightly. Light the song with sense and color;
Hold away despair, more than this I will not ask.
Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last.
Some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to terrapin.