This little critter was chugging across the Dutchess Rail Trail near the ponds north of Page Industrial Park, so I stopped to lend a hand:
The plastron looked like a brightly colored jewel:
Perhaps plastrons start out with all the pigment they’ll ever have, then fade from bright orange to yellow-brown as they spread out.
If you’re not paying attention, you’d think “pebble” or “dog turd”. Neither of which you should ride over, of course, but … teleporting a tiny turtle to the drainage ditch on the far side seemed to increase the world’s net happiness.
The pix are tight crops from the AS30V’s 170° FOV images, which means they’re way grittier than you’d expect from a “full HD” image.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 