Greetings.
I am a man in a suit who has fallen into the world of Minecraft.
A little greeting from the northern beach as it looks now.
There is a green turtle shell on my head, and turtles behind me.
Today, let us look back at how I came to wear it.
Last time, I built Bojoen, a daimyo-style garden overlooking the castle keep.
This time, I leave town to watch over some small lives on the beach.
First, let us go back to before I had a shell of my own.
A beach hut, and seagrass to welcome the turtles
Walking through the forest from town, I catch sight of the sea.
This northern beach is where I am spending this episode.
Beside it, I build a hut with a bed, crafting table, and chest, plus a lit, sandy enclosure with a small pool.
Bone meal on the submerged sand brings up seagrass.
I cut it with shears to prepare food for the turtles.
It is handy to find their food right beside the sea.
There are three turtles on the beach to the northwest.
Holding seagrass draws them closer.
Slowly, I guide them toward the nesting area’s gate.
Two enter the enclosure; the third returns to the sea.
I feed the pair seagrass and wait for them to breed.
The thought of eggs soon has me feeling rather restless.
Oh, an egg on the sand!
I put a small canopy of posts and slabs directly above this first egg.
I shall have to mind my feet as well.
Nights at the window, cracks, and a tiny hatchling
At night, I watch the lit enclosure from the hut’s window.
The eggs do not hatch straight away, and I spend several nights waiting.
For such a quiet beach, it is making me surprisingly fidgety.
In the morning, I look at the egg and find cracks!
It looks different from when I first saw it.
Such a little change, yet I cannot help wanting a closer look.
While waiting, I keep feeding the pair seagrass and breed them again.
Here is a later round, with a turtle digging in the sand once more.
This time, three breedings give one egg, one egg, and four eggs: six in all.
There it is, the first hatchling!
Beside its parent, it looks so very small.
After those nights of waiting, this little sight makes me happy.
Green particles appear when I feed the baby seagrass.
Watching such a small creature eat makes me want to cheer it on.
Minecraft’s seagrass article explains that seagrass helps baby turtles grow faster.
Here, I feed it while waiting for it to grow.
One turtle scute in my hand!
The first baby grows into an adult, and I pick up the scute it drops.
It feels like a lovely little gift from that tiny hatchling.
Minecraft’s turtle shell article explains that scutes drop when baby turtles become adults.
I like obtaining them by raising turtles rather than killing them.
Another nest produces four hatchlings.
It is a lively morning, with little turtles walking beside their parents.
Those big and tiny shells together are rather endearing.
Those youngsters eat their seagrass and grow into adults too.
Only a little while ago they were tiny; now I can hardly tell them from their parents.
The enclosure is becoming quite a busy place.
Five scutes, a turtle shell, and a dip in the shallows
Collecting scutes from the grown youngsters brings me to five!
After all that watching, these five feel rather special.
Now I can make the shell I have been hoping for.
At the hut’s crafting table, I arrange five scutes in a helmet shape.
A turtle shell appears on the right.
Time to craft it and try it on.
My head is thoroughly turtle-coloured now.
One photograph in my new shell, with the nesting area behind me.
Raising the turtles for this equipment makes it feel a little more personal.
I put my head underwater, and the air meter stays full for a while.
Oh, I can take a little more time to look around beneath the familiar sea.
The official explanation says that wearing the shell on land gives Water Breathing, which starts counting down when submerged.
It does not let me stay down forever, so I shall enjoy it without pushing my luck.
And here is the beach as it looks now.
The hut sits by the forest, with the canopies and lanterns of the nesting area in front.
By now, the last youngster has grown too: two parents and six grown offspring make up the family.
Thinking back to peering at those eggs, it has become quite a lively place.
I look forward to using this shell when I next take a look beneath the sea.
That is all for this time.
Greetings.