Sea Turtles and Interesting Facts About Them: Did you know sea turtles are one of the most ancient creatures on the planet? They appeared in all the world’s oceans more than 220 million years ago, even before dinosaurs were born! Let’s explore their interesting characteristics with Pet Addict
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Information About Sea Turtles
They are reptiles, similar in appearance to terrestrial turtles and freshwater turtles or turtles. They have 4 legs (limbs) that act like oars. Unlike terrestrial turtles, they cannot retract their heads and legs into their shells. Their main food includes seagrass, jellyfish, crabs, mollusks, and sponges (sponges).
Where do they live? Most sea turtles live in tropical regions around the equator, except leatherback turtles, which can live in temperate areas with lower sea temperatures. They live in seagrass beds, coral reefs, and coastal areas. It can sleep on the surface, in deep water, or hide in rocks at the bottom of near-shore waters. Many divers have seen them sleeping on coral reefs and reefs.
Life Cycle
In a stable natural environment, a sea turtle can have a fairly long life cycle. They can live up to 80 years.
Sea turtles migrate hundreds (sometimes thousands) of kilometers from their feeding grounds to spawning grounds and then back. Female sea turtles swim through the waves to lay eggs on the beach. They only leave the water to come ashore during this spawning period. Female sea turtles dig their nests with their limbs and lay about 70-190 eggs. Turtle eggs need 6-10 weeks to hatch, depending on natural conditions.
The sex of baby turtles is determined by the temperature of the sea sand where they are born: below 30°C mostly male sea turtles, conversely above 30°C female turtles. Baby turtles are born with the ability to navigate and swim towards the sea, starting a long journey!
They move out to live in the deep sea until it is 5-10 years old. When the size is about 20 cm – about the size of a dish, the young turtles leave the deep sea, return to nearshore waters and live on coral reefs or in seagrass beds. Because of the many threats to baby turtles, only about 1 in 1,000-10,000 survive to adulthood.
When they reach adulthood, they begin the reproductive process. Both male and female turtles migrate to the beach close to where they were born to give birth. The ability of them to navigate when migrating, the ability to remember the location where they were born, the reason for choosing the mother turtle’s spawning grounds, etc., still exist many mysteries that scientists have not discovered.
Role
They play an important role in ocean and beach ecosystems. In the oceans, sea turtles, especially green them, are among the few sea herbivores (also manatees) that grow on the seafloor. Seagrasses should not be allowed to grow too long, and this is an area needed for many fish and other marine life. The loss of seagrass beds will cause a chain reaction, negatively impacting the lives of many marine species and humans.
Beaches and dunes depend on plants to resist erosion. Every time a sea turtle comes in to lay eggs, it will bring many ocean plants in and a source of nutrients for the dune plant found in the turtle eggs when the turtle hatches. Every year, they lay a huge number of eggs on the beaches.
Along with that, They are also reptiles that play a significant role for humans. They are a popular food around the world with a huge amount of protein. The shells and bibs are used for decoration and the manufacture of household items. For humans, especially those who exploit the fishery, create a good seagrass environment for many marine species such as crabs, snails, shellfish, fish, and crustaceans. Many areas that see the importance of them have permanently stopped hunting sea turtles, but instead, conservation areas have been established, attracting tourists, economic development associated with sustainable development.
How Many Species of Sea Turtles Are There?
Currently, there are 7 species of it in the world. The names of these 7 species all have exciting stories:
– The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) got its name because of its enormous head
– Hawksbill sea turtles are so named because they have a narrow head and a large beak-like snout.
– Leatherbacks are the only sea turtles that do not have a hard shell. It is called the Leatherback Tortoise because its shell is just a thin, tough, resilient skin. This is the largest sea turtle in the world.
– The Olive ridley sea turtle has an olive green (light yellow-green) shell.
– Green Sea Turtle is different; it is named because the fatty skin under the carapace is blue.
– Flatback they are so named because they have flat shells
– Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is named after Richard Kemp, who discovered and studied this turtle.
All seven species are on the list of protected species under the International Red Book and banned from hunting and trading in most countries.
Let’s Protect Sea Turtles Together
Currently, the world’s sea turtle populations are in serious decline. So each of us can do our part to protect sea turtles:
– First of all, be a savvy consumer, never buying or selling turtle meat and turtle souvenirs. All acts of exploiting, collecting, buying, selling, transporting, and products from sea turtles are illegal and subject to administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution.
– Keep the marine environment clean and mobilize everyone to do the same as you. Be careful when fishing in the sea; regularly check fishing nets to save turtle temples.
– Participate in sea turtle conservation activities. The International Union organizes this activity for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) every year; you can completely register to participate!
– If you find sea turtles that have been caught, sold, or slaughtered, immediately notify the relevant agencies and organizations, such as the local Sub-Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Protection and IUCN, for handling.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How To Draw A Realistic Sea Turtle?
How do Sea Turtles sleep? It can sleep at the surface while in deep water or on the bottom wedged under rocks in nearshore waters.
How do Sea Turtles Breathe? Just like other reptiles, they have lungs. The lungs are located right under the carapace and the vertebral column.
How do Sea Turtles lay eggs? They use beaches and the lower dunes to nest and lay their eggs. they deposit an average of about 100 eggs in each nest and lay between 3 and 7 nests during the nesting season. Along a 20-mile stretch of beach on the east coast of Florida, they layover 150,000 lbs of eggs in the sand.
How do Sea Turtles mate? To mate, a male will climb onto a female’s back while she is swimming horizontally in the water.
Read more: Reptile
Conclusion
Hopefully through the above article can help you have an overview and know it. Follow Petaddict.net for more details on reptiles!
