Turtle Lady

At age 74, Illa Loetscher attempted an evolutionary miracle.  The Mexican government gave her a very special turtle to see if she could raise it, send it to sea and have it return to her.  It did. For 20 years, Illa opened her home to the sick and the wounded.  Turtles tossed up on the shore and left to die.  Kemp Ridley’s are the most endangered sea turtles in the world.  The few that remain lay most of their eggs on Mexican beaches where — for years — those eggs have been stolen and eaten as a love potion.  Illa puts on shows to get neighborhood kids to help her find the Ridley’s before the poachers do.  She names each turtle after the person who found it.  The latest was saved by a father whose child had been to the Turtle Lady’s House.