When a video showing a plastic straw being removed from a poor sea turtle’s nostril spread across the internet, it changed the world a little. Many people began to stop using plastic straws, and chain restaurants stopped providing them.However,straws are not the only threat to sea turtles in the ocean! Plastic bags, fish hooks, discarded fishing nets, and more — these types of marine debris can also cause sea turtles to drown at the bottom of the sea. Human technology has rapidly advanced, creating many substances that do not naturally exist in the environment. Most animals cannot adapt to human progress, and sea turtles are an example. They have not evolved to distinguish between their favorite food, jellyfish, and plastic bags, which can be deadly!

Once while snorkeling at sea, I saw a sea turtle swimming below me. Its forelimbs moved slowly, as if it were flying underwater, inspiring my creation of the "Flying Turtle of the Sea." I based this artwork on my earlier creation — an origami turtle — and added more details on the origami base. I incorporated movable mechanisms to simulate the sea turtle swimming with its forelimbs, the subtle undulations of its body, and the relative movement of the turtle’s neck and body under reaction forces. My goal was to recreate the graceful swimming of a sea turtle. After weeks of effort, I completed the "Flying Turtle of the Sea" automaton! I love this work! The process of designing this piece and the satisfaction of completing it brought me a lot of joy, and I hope everyone also finds happiness in the process of printing and assembling it.

Thank you to SpiderMaker for sponsoring this creation.

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