Photo By: Lily O’hara
In an unfortunate turn of events, student favorite Alfonso Maurice III the turtle has unexpectedly passed. Alfonso was donated to the school by the Aquarium Club. He lived under the care of biology and geology teacher Tracy Landboe.
“Earlier that day Alfonso the turtle seemed to be fine. And then during my fifth period class, a student called me over and was really agitated. They were like, ‘Ms. Landboe, Ms. Landboe! Alfonso is drowning, he’s trapped under a rock!’ So, I came over and the turtle was upside down. Underneath something that a turtle could easily get out of,” said Landboe.
Although Alfonso was still alive, he was in bad condition. In an attempt to save him, Lanboe “grabbed him right away, thinking he was sick and needed oxygen. [She] pulled him out of the water … and tapped on him. He was still alive, his eyes were open. But his eyes were rolled in the back of his head. And his claws were all turned about.” “It happened pretty quickly. just like that!” Landboe snapped her fingers.
Regarding the potential cause of Alfonso’s death, Landboe said, “after the class, I found a THC candy. Someone left the wrapper on the desk right there, right by the tank. And so, I suspected that maybe somebody put something in the tank and the turtle got sick because THC is toxic for a lot of animals.”
While she acknowledged that she “doesn’t have 100% proof,” Landboe came to that conclusion after she “looked up THC poisoning for animals.”
“They have a lot of research on dogs.” Lanboe said. “When I did a Google search there was a picture there of a dog and its eyes were rolled in the back of its head and it looked exactly the same as the turtle’s eyes.”
Alfonso’s unexpected death was a shock to students. The Aquarium Club held a funeral for him. Alec Johnson ’24, president of the club, said, “We were pretty devastated. I mean, I cared for that turtle during the summers and during the breaks, and really, it kind of felt like my turtle, you know?” Johnson said that Alfonso’s death and its suspicious circumstances made him “not want to trust students.”
Alfonso’s death also contributes to an ongoing conversation about THC and its dangers. “I put a sign on the tank that said ‘THC is deadly’ because it is for a lot of animals. And in the long run, probably extremely toxic for people,” said Landboe.
She continued, “There isn’t a lot of good data on how toxicity works because there are no long term studies on these types of substances. So, I told all my students what I think might have happened, to try to at least educate them on a lot of things. One, that that stuff is dangerous. And two, that animals that are in a tank like this can’t get out of their environment, so we’re responsible to take good care of them.”
Aquarium Club member Max Adelaar ’24 described Alfonso as “super smart, and timid sometimes.” Johnson said, “He was just a chilling dude, with good vibes.” Landboe described him as “cute! He would come up to the tank when you came over and try to communicate with you.” The loss of Alfonso will be felt across the Roosevelt community. Landboe said, “Kids come into this classroom who don’t even have me as a teacher to see the turtle.”
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