Kappa (kah-pah)

Kappa

A kappa was a 3 ft. turtle with a bowl-shaped haircut similar to that of a monk. They were cute little creatures with a childlike mentality. Kappas were one of the rare animals who were capable of crawling on all fours or waddling on two legs. They had a strong beak capable of breaking open shells. When excited they would squawk and rapidly flap their arms to great comical effect. They stuck mostly to the water because they were better swimmers than runners. Young kappas could be found burying themselves in beds of seaweed and coral reefs as they grew. The only reason to have a shelter was to keep themselves safe from predators. Covering themselves with sand or hiding in caves worked well for this purpose.

Males were the only ones who had the bowl-shaped haircut atop their heads. Female kappas were completely bald and had more muted colors on their shells. Males freely swam around the sea impregnating just about every female they came across. Females laid 500 eggs up and down the beaches of islands lying along the equator. The eggs were extremely fragile. Over half their number would break before the baby kappa inside was ready to hatch. After 150 days of incubation, the baby kappas would hatch and begin their trek to the ocean. Many of them also died here because several predators picked them off. Out of the 500 + eggs the mother had laid, only 50 or so would make it into the ocean. From there, more died off from predators and other environmental issues. When it was all said and done only 20 from each family survived to adulthood.