The symbolSurfing already has plenty of sharks, eagles and other fast, fierce, very-serious mascots. We went the other way. A slow, chilled out, faintly ridiculous reptile that surfs better than it has any right to. Here's why she fits us perfectly, in three parts.
Turtles are natural splooters. Because of how they're built, their back legs are permanently stretched out in that exact flop pose. They're not doing it for attention. They just exist like that, comfortable in their own shell. We think that's a pretty good way to be in the water: yourself, no apologies.
There's something gloriously subversive about tying a slow animal to a radical sport. It breaks the pose. It punctures the seriousness. Surfing spends a lot of energy looking cool, and a smiling turtle in the line-up quietly refuses to play along. Freedom to do whatever you want, at whatever pace you want.
A turtle lives in the ocean and on land. Even the sea species crawl up the beach to nest. That in-between life is exactly what surfing is: half sport, half lifestyle, half ocean, half shore. She belongs in both, and so do you.
So no, she's not fast. She's not fierce. She takes her time, doesn't panic in the line-up, and doesn't apologize for existing. Honestly, that's a better role model than most of what surfing hands beginners.
