Undersea Odyssey: Sea Turtle Marathon

Is there anything more magical than seeing freshly hatched baby sea turtles scamper from the beach to the waves? While sea turtles spend most of their lives in the ocean, they still have to lay their eggs on land, so turtle moms emerge periodically to scoop a hole in the beach sand and lay the eggs within; when those eggs hatch, thousands of tiny turtles haul themselves toward the surf!

Part of this enthralling sight, though, is that it’s a journey for the very brave. The newborns have to power along as fast as they can in order to escape the notice of predators. Sea turtles are endangered species, too, so the more help that their young can get during this race of their lives, the more likely that we’ll have future sea turtle generations. Nowadays, some human beings have taken to guarding turtle sanctuary beaches and making sure that the big hatch ‘n’ run goes all right.

Whaddya say: care to make like a baby sea turtle and go for a beach marathon? Starting at 8:00 AM EST on 2/20, you will have 24 hours to complete 1-2 cells! Usual marathon bonuses and cell renaming thresholds apply.

Swag (generously sponsored by @susi): The top player (defined by number of points earned during the marathon time period) will win a tote bag! 2 tote bags and 3 sticker sheets will be raffled among the top 25% of participating players, too.

If the first cell finishes before the 24-hour mark, a second marathon cell will be launched to see if it can finish by that mark as well. Should the second cell indeed finish on time, it will earn the second-place name vote.

Special Guidelines for Scythes

Bonus: Normal SC bonuses are doubled!

Naming: Admins will be counting every 3 SC votes as 1 cube added to your cube count for naming eligibility. So, for instance, you can trace 100 cubes, SC 300 cubes, and still earn nominating rights, or achieve the same result by tracing 150 cubes and SCing 150.

Artwork by Daniela Gamba