Harper Kids Storytime.
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>> Hi, friends, today I have the most extraordinary story for us.
It's about a little sea turtle who grows into a big sea turtle
who goes on an awesome adventure to find her home.
It's called Yoshi and the Ocean, so grab your book and let's read.
Yoshi and the Ocean, by Lindsay Moore
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Before she had a name, she was an egg,
or she was within an egg.
Flippers folded around her yolk until the size of her small world and
the voice of the waves made her restless.
They drew her out of her egg, down the slope of a moonlit beach,
and into the surf.
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This is Yoshi, small and broken, found by fishermen in the waves.
There's Yoshi, she's so small compared to this big boat.
They give her a place to rest.
They give her fish to eat from their nets, and a name, Yoshitaro.
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This is Yoshi, little patient.
She is the first turtle the aquarium in Cape Town has cared for.
They see the dent in her side.
They see the size of her spirit and appetite.
They give her a home and time to heal.
Look at the dent in her side and she's still very little.
[LAUGH] They learn how to feed her and keep all their fingers.
She learns not to bite them when she wants a snack.
They learn how to read Yoshi's behavior.
She learns how to ask for a scratch on the back.
I can't believe how small Yoshi is right now because sea turtles get really big
when they grow up.
Yoshi swims circles with silvery fish and smooth stingrays.
She stops to watch the crowds who watch with wonder.
Look at all the people who are looking at the animals.
We have fish, and a stingray, and a shark, and Yoshi.
Years begin and end and start again.
Visitors come and discover and go.
Yoshi swims at the aquarium and eats and grows.
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This is Yoshi, Queen of the Exhibit.
On the outside, she looks the same.
Inside, though, something has changed.
Now the walls of her world make her restless.
She is far away from here, and that is where she needs to go.
Yoshi looks a lot bigger now.
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Those who care for her understand.
She is healthy now.
She should be in the ocean, but they worry.
She has lived at the aquarium for 20 years.
Will she remember how to find food?
What about tiger sharks and ship strikes?
What about floating plastic and fishing snares?
They are not sure where she is from, but they think it is where she will go.
They prepare her for a long journey.
She swims laps and eats more.
She is training to go home.
The scientists are gonna let Yoshi go back into the wide open ocean so
she can find her original home.
Can you believe Yoshi knows how to get home from so far away?
This is Yoshi, much-loved turtle.
Scientists glue a tracking tag to her shell.
This is her tracking tag.
It'll help the scientists follow where she travels.
And Yoshi's gotten a lot bigger over time.
When the weather is calm and welcoming,
they take her out to deep water.
Three, two, one, go Yoshi, go Yoshi.
There she goes.
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Yoshi's finally in the ocean.
This is Yoshi, wild turtle.
She is remembering what the ocean is like.
The shape of a wave, the shift of the wind.
The push of a current and the sky.
Each time Yoshi stops at the surface for a breath of air,
a signal is sent out, strong and clear,
to satellites crisscrossing the exosphere.
Hello from Yoshi, I am here.
And there's Yoshi, she came to the surface so now the scientists know where she is.
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This is Yoshi, ocean wanderer.
She loops through plankton blooms that form like clouds near the sunlit surface.
Miles of wispy gardens feed crowds of fish and floating sea creatures.
A plankton bloom attracts a feast for pilchards and penguins and Yoshi.
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This is Yoshi, clever turtle.
On a single breath of air, she dives down below the blooms, through scales and
shells and fish guts that fall like snow on the oozing seabed.
Where the sun is not as strong, she finds food for her journey.
Snails and clams, shrimp and crabs, all make a delicious crunch.
Yoshi's having lunch.
This says that Yoshi dives all the way down to eat sometimes.
This means she doesn't just swim across the ocean, she goes down and up too.
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This is Yoshi, intrepid turtle.
She winds her way northward against warm currents, against expectations.
Where is she going?
They wonder in Cape Town.
Where is she going?
She has on her tracking tag, and she's at the surface so
the scientists can find out where she is.
She swims north, along the underwater edge of the African continent.
Sometimes right on the slope,
where the seafloor drops away into darkness, the beginning of the abyss.
She swims in the space between two worlds, the deep sea and the coastal sea.
Where worlds meet and water mixes, food is plentiful, and so are fishing vessels.
There's one fishing vessel now
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She swims through busy fishing grounds,
where silent lines hang easy snacks from deadly hooks.
Those who love her hold their breath.
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Hello from Yoshi, I am here.
Yoshi's okay, she's back at the surface with her tracking tag on.
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This is Yoshi, ocean turtle.
She crosses into the abyss to swim among sea mounts that
raise miles high off the ocean floor.
Rowdy currents roll up the steep sides.
There is plenty of food for Yoshi to find to fuel her on her journey.
She feasts for a while, then turns south, and everyone wonders where she's going.
Can you imagine how Yoshi feels being all alone and trying to find her way home?
It's a big journey and I bet she's feeling a lot of different emotions
like excitement, fear, and confidence.
And I bet the scientists who are watching her are feeling pride, concern, and love.
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This is Yoshi, homeward-bound turtle.
She is rounding the cape where two oceans meet, where currents collide,
where waves are known to rise to like cliffs and swallow ships.
She swims east and everyone wonders where she is going.
Hello from Yoshi, I am here.
Here's Yoshi, she's doing okay,
even though she's surrounded by these massive waves.
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This is Yoshi, high seas turtle.
She swims along underwater mountain ridges that stretch like
a seam across the ocean floor, so deep she cannot even reach their peaks.
There is less for her to stop and eat here, but
where warm water runs alongside cold, food can be found.
There's not as much food in this ocean.
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Yoshi is not picky.
Seems like there's a lot of food options in the ocean.
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Her journey is wide like the wild.
It curves over the surface of the earth.
Eastward, eastward across a deep ocean basin for weeks.
Look at all these dolphins and Yoshi's swimming with them,
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For months.
Yoshi's still going even in the midst of all this garbage.
It makes me sad that this is all in Yoshi's home.
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For a year.
Hello from Yoshi, I am here
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This is Yoshi, determined turtle.
Now the sea floor slopes upward.
She crosses over a ledge where the deep sea ends and Australia begins.
She leaves the abyss behind and the world wonders, where is she going?
She is going to where she belongs.
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Wow, look at all of this color.
It looks like the journey has been worth it.
This is Yoshi, wild at heart.
She has left a life with walls and windows and survived in untamed spaces.
She has crossed a wide ocean to feed with other loggerheads in quiet places,
among mudflats, fields of seagrass, and towering coral domes.
It looks like Yoshi has some other turtle friends now too.
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Hello from Yoshi, I am home.
The end.
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Wow, what an adventure.
Can you believe Yoshi traveled days, months, years, and finally made it home?
The next time you're feeling nervous about a big trip ahead,
I hope you remember how brave Yoshi was,
from the day she was rescued to the day she made it back to her corner of the sea.
I'll see you next time, bye, friends.
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If you want to learn more fun facts and cool science about Yoshi and her journey,
there's even more to read after the story in the back of the book.
Check it out.
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