Turtle is a delicacy in Micronesia. It doesn’t matter that giant sea turtles are an endangered species and their numbers are dwindling rapidly. They are still captured and eaten as often as people can get their hands on them. Their shells are valuable materials to make jewelry and tools out of, and their meat is prized as tasty and delicious. One of the places most renowned for catching turtles is the Hall Islands in the western outreaches of Chuuk. This small lagoon is a turtle breeding ground, so they are easily caught and eaten at most special occasions.
A few weeks ago, my host mother on Tonoas went out to her original island of Murilo in the Halls for a funeral. At the funeral, there were of course a couple turtles that were to be feasted upon at the ceremony. Although I have not seen turtle prepared, I have heard about the gruesome process. It is very important that the turtle is still alive when the cooking process begins. If it is already dead, then it may be spoiled and the meat could be bad. So the turtle is killed immediately before its cooked. It is placed on its back on a stage and sharp sticks are stabbed through its eyes and nose to scramble its brain. The brain scramble is done to numb the turtle and supposedly make it feel no pain. Then they begin to disembowel the turtle while its still alive and pull out the entrails. After its been gutted, then it is thrown onto an open fire and roasted until it finally dies. The turtle meat is then ripped out from the shell and served to the willing guests.
Well, the process was slightly different at this funeral. One of the turtles looked different than most they were accustomed to and it was already dead before they began to cook it. The nervous cooks did not know how long it had been dead and were unsure if the meat had been spoiled in the blazing sun, nonetheless they roasted the shell and cooked the turtle anyways. When the meat was extracted, everyone noticed that it had a peculiar yellow tint to it. Many people felt that this was a sign of special turtle and grubbed it eagerly.
The following morning, two of the guests at the funeral didn’t wake up in the morning. They were dead! Dozens of other people also reported signs of nauseous ness and tiredness. Within two days, another three people were dead. Boatloads of sick islanders were rushed on the 30 hour bumpy boat ride to the hospital on the main island of Weno in Chuuk. Over 20 people were brought in the hospital within the next week. Three more died on Weno.
The government decided that this tragedy was worthy a full-scale investigation. Forty people from the Chuuk hospital, including my host father, and dozens of other researchers and doctors from Pohnpei, Guam, America and China were part of an emergency investigation team that was sent out to Murilo. They set up a makeshift medical tent on the far side of the island and tried to treat the rest of the patients. The team prevented any more deaths and contained the situation.
In totality, 135 people were infected and 8 people died. The cause was determined to be the turtle. There were rumors about a scientist who was conducting experiments on lizards on Murilo and injecting them with unknown chemicals. Many people thought that this was the cause of the poisonous turtle, but those rumors remain speculative. The team of researchers came to the conclusion that it was just a function of the type of turtle eaten.
It was a “Hawksbill Turtle”. This is a rare type of turtle that has a curved, pointed beak and sharp talons on its feet. The turtle feeds on a unique variety of sea life including poisonous sea anemones, jellyfish and man of war. The turtle’s toxic diet filled it with deadly chemicals that were eventually eaten by the unsuspecting funeral attendees. Also, the turtle meat could have been further lethal by being spoiled in the sun. The combination of its poisonous diet and unknown death date contributed to its tragic effects on the small community in Murilo.
My host mother and brothers were very fortunate to narrowly avoid being infected by the turtle meat. After the long boat ride, my mother felt sick and did not want to attend the feasting portion of the funeral. Her sons also stayed back and took care of her instead of going to the feast. Luckily, this serendipitous sequence of events allowed my family to forgo eating the turtle and return in good health. This tragic turtle tale is now contained and serves as a warning to others about ingesting spoiled Hawksbill turtle.
No comments:
Post a Comment