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turtles

Photo credit: Canva, Doug Lussenhop

A man braves alligator-filled waters to save some turtles.

Not all heroes wear capes, but some of them wear Crocs. When comedian Doug Lussenhop started his day on the thick, humid Gulf Coast of Florida, he had no idea he'd become the hero to two unsuspecting Florida Cooter turtles.

Lussenhop, who professionally goes by the name DJ Douggpound, is a self-described "joke-DJ" and has been part of the Los Angeles comedy scene for years. He's also a highly esteemed film and TV editor, musician, and podcaster—most known for his work on Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker.(He and Heidecker have worked together on many projects, including Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!)

Heidecker brought Lussenhop along as one of the opening acts on his latest Slipping Away tour. As a highly seasoned touring comedian (Lussenhop has also opened for Tenacious D and, more recently, Eric Andre), he loves to seize each day of travel and truly get down in the dirt in whatever town he's in.

But he especially likes ponds—and all the critters that come with them. So, he found one in St. Petersburg on a rainy day before a show. He exclusively told Upworthy, "We usually have time during the day before sound check. So I got a Lime scooter and was cruising around. I found a pond and there were some crocodiles in there. And then I went to this storm drain, and I saw there was a turtle swimming down there, like in a concrete waterfall. And I thought that thing is never getting out of there."

He looked around for a solution. "I scoured the neighborhood for a 2x6 piece of wood. There was construction nearby and I was gonna just sneak in there and steal a piece of wood to make a ramp so the turtle could just climb out. But there was always someone looking at me and I didn't have the balls to do it. And then I think we had sound check."

turtle, reptile, wildlife, ponds, nature A close up of a turtle on a log. Photo by Theo Aartsma on Unsplash

Lussenhop returned to the venue but simply couldn't stop thinking about those turtles. "It was eating away at me. I knew I could get those turtles out of there." He told Josh, the band's drummer, and showed him a video of the turtle in the storm drain. "It got stuck in my craw."

Being a man of action, he decided he had to do something about it. "After sound check, I put on my Crocs and went back to the turtles. It was really scary because it had started raining, and water was gushing into that storm drain. I couldn't see where the turtles were!"

In the video, Lussenhop recounts how earlier in the day, he had been "looking at the wildlife." He ominously flashes back to his gator sighting and adds, "I saw a turtle or two that went down this storm drain. So I'm gonna go try to get that turtle out of there."

Some language in this video may not be suitable for a younger audience.


Back to Mirror Lake he goes, and this is when the exciting action music begins. He finds the spot. "The water is raging now," he says. "This is f----d." His legs dangle over the drain where the white, foamy water is rising by the second. "Where is he? I think he swam away." And then he sees the turtle. Now climbing even further into the waterfall, knowing those gators might be lurking, he says, "I've made it this far." He jumps all the way in. "Where is he? I'm here to help, dude."

He reaches his arm in and…"I've got one of 'em!" He pulls out a large turtle and gently puts him back into the pond. But wait! Lussenhop thinks there's another turtle down there. He tries blocking the cascading water to get a better view. "C'mon bro," he beckons. And as the music swells alongside the water, a huge turtle pops up for air and Lussenhop is able to grab him. "Oh my God, he's f-----g huge!" He gently gives the turtle a little push back into the pond to join his reptile friend.

But now Lussenhop has to get himself out of the sewer. As he tries to scale back up, his GoPro camera falls off and into the water. He's able to fish it out and propel himself back on land, only to find a couple of fishermen nearby who don't even seem to notice the whole ordeal.

Lussenhop admits, "Well, I hope that dumbass turtle doesn't go back down in that sewer." He then displays a beautiful picture of a turtle swimming with the voiceover, "Turtles are special. But they are stupid. We must protect them." This is followed by an illustration of a tiny fence at the top of the storm drain, which would prevent them from falling in. "Would this be so hard?" the VO proposes.

Doug excitedly shares the news with the band.

Post turtle rescue youtu.be, Doug Lussenhop

As a lifelong lover and advocate for turtles, Lussenhop was happy to help. "When I was a kid, I was kind of obsessed with turtles. Ever since my first pet turtle died, I go out of my way to help them." He was especially thrilled that a few people reached out after the rescue video was posted. One guy was part of a Florida ecological group, and though the pond wasn't in his jurisdiction, Lussenhop asked if he would pass along the request to "make the grates a little taller."

"If I ever get down to Florida again, I'll rig something up. At least some kind of ramp or maybe buy some chicken wire and just strap it along there."


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The Wilderness Society

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is one spectacular (and sometimes scary, but always beautiful) place.

1. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a lion fish. Gorgeous, but dangerous. All images via iStock.


I mean, just look at it...

2. Don't you want to jump right in?

It's unlike any other reef in the world.

3. Beneath the surface of that water is a whole lot of life.

Why? Well, for starters, it's enormous.

4. Now that's a view.

It covers over 1,400 miles (that's more than the distance from New York City to Miami, FYI), and is the only living thing visible from space.

The Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef on Earth — actually comprises more than 3,000 smaller reef systems and hundreds of islands.

5. Check out the Whitsunday Islands. They're beautiful!

It has World Heritage status and definitely deserves it.

World Heritage status is the United Nations' way of deeming a certain place or human creation as having significant cultural or physical value to humanity. National Geographic perfectly explains why the reef has been designated as such:

"The most riveting sight of all — and the main reason for World Heritage status — is the vast expanse of coral, from staghorn stalks and wave-smoothed plates to mitt-shaped boulders draped with nubby brown corals as leathery as saddles. Soft corals top hard ones, algae and sponges paint the rocks, and every crevice is a creature's home. The biology, like the reef, transforms from the north — where the reef began — to the south. The shifting menagerie is unmatched in the world."

6. Look at these yellow and white beauties.

The Great Barrier Reef is more than just beautiful, though — it's home to an absurd amount of unique species.

Like puffer fish.

7. Puffer fish are amazing ... but definitely don't eat one.

And clown fish.

8. Yes, like Nemo!

Giant potato cod also call these waters home.

9. This big fella can change colors depending on its surroundings.

As well as parrot fish.

10. Colorful, huh?

And lion fish.

11. Remember this beautiful specimen from photo #1?

You might spot a jellyfish floating around Down Under, too.

12. If you don't know how to stay safe from jellyfish, you should.

Or, if you're lucky, one of these things! A marine turtle.

13. These are just the coolest.

Don't forget about octopus, either.

14. These species are way cool ... especially the mimic octopus.

Or trigger fish, which aren't shaped this way by accident.

15. Trigger fish are long and slim — perfect for slithering into coral crevices.

I could go on and on — seriously, there are over 1,800 species of fish alone in the Great Barrier Reef — but you get my drift.

These creatures (and so many others) are incredibly important to ocean wildlife.

And that's why it's essential that their home stays protected.

16. Why would we ever want to destroy a place that looks like this?

We need to take action in big ways — like get serious in our fight against climate change (which is already affecting many of the reef's species) and protect the coral and its inhabitants from those of us humans who enjoy fishing and collecting (even if it's at the expense of an entire ecosystem).

If we want to, we can keep the ocean life off Australia's coasts thriving for generations to come.

That's why you should support the Wilderness Society, who are fighting Big Oil in Australia.

The group is demanding that BP stays out of the Great Australian Bight — another pristine marine region Down Under. Fun fact: More than 85% of the species in the shallows of the Bight can be found nowhere else on Earth!.

To support the Wilderness Society, sign their petition to keep BP out of the Bight for good.

17. I'm fairly certain Nemo and his friends would appreciate us protecting their home.