When the sea turtle surfaced next to my kayak, it looked as startled to see me as I was to see it.

Southwest Florida’s pristine waters are home to many sea turtles, with loggerheads being the most common. But usually a lumbering loggerhead is easy to see before it comes up for air, with its huge shell causing ripples in the water. Even if you don’t see it first, you sure hear the ole animals – they breathe deeply and loudly like some people do.

But when I was on the Calusa Blueway near Lovers Key State Park recently, a dinner plate-sized turtle surfaced. This little one was still busy growing into a huge turtle.

I drifted around, hoping to see it again. Sure enough, it popped up by my stern.

You’ll notice there is no photo posted with this blog. Right. The only picture I got was of swirls in the water.

But I sure have great memories of seeing a tiny sea turtle on the blueway.