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Protecting Sea Turtles and Marine Life Preservation - Ocean Animals

Updated on May 25, 2013

Sea Turtles and Dinosaurs

They roam the warm and temperate waters of the world for the nearly 8 -10 decades of their nomadic existence. As ancient creatures of the sea, their ancestry takes them back 150 million years ago, to the later Jurassic time period, where sea turtles watched the evolution and extinction of the dinosaur.  

Turtles, tend to encompass a large group of marine reptiles, including tortoises, box turtles, pond turtles, musk turtles, river turtles, and sea turtles. according to the California Turtle and Tortoise Club "A tortoise is a land dwelling turtle with high domed shell and columnar, elephant-shaped hind legs. Tortoises go to water only to drink or bathe.”

What Do You Think is the Correct Answer?

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Green Sea Turtle
Green Sea Turtle
Green and Black Sea Turtles show no significant genetic differences
Green and Black Sea Turtles show no significant genetic differences
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
olive Ridley Sea Turtle
olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
Flatback sea turtle
Flatback sea turtle

Different Types of Sea Turtles

Sea turtles spend nearly all their life migrating thousands of miles across harbors, bays, and sometimes oceans. Females will go on land to lay their eggs. Across the globe, there are 7 species of sea turtles. Some say there are 8 species, because they count the black sea turtle. But this debated, because some scientists believe the black and green sea turtles are the same species.

  • green turtle (100% nest in Florida)
  • loggerhead
  • leatherback
  • hawksbill
  • olive ridley
  • kemp’s ridley
  • flatback (only in Northern Australia)



Hard scales, called scutes cover all the turtles except for the leatherback turtle. The species is determined by the arrangement and number of these scutes. Sea turtles come in various colors, shapes and sizes. The olive ridley weighs less than 100 pounds. The leatherback can weigh from 650 pounds to 1,300 pounds. The upper shell also comes in different shapes, colors and scale arrangements.


The United States Fish and Wildlife Services lists the 6 types of turtles that are part of U.S. waters as endangered or threatened. In the U.S., it is illegal to cause any harm or interfere with a sea turtle of the eggs of sea turtles. 6 species of turtles exist in Australian waters, and all 6 are protected under several state and territory laws and Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Any animal that is listed on the endangered list is threatened with extinction.
Any animal that is listed as vulnerable means they may become endangered by the continuing threats.

Watch a Sea Turtle Swimming

All Species of Sea Turtles are Endangered

Hard scales, called scutes cover all the turtles except for the leatherback turtle. The species is determined by the arrangement and number of these scutes. Sea turtles come in various colors, shapes and sizes. The olive ridley weighs less than 100 pounds. The leatherback can weigh from 650 pounds to 1,300 pounds. The upper shell also comes in different shapes, colors and scale arrangements.


The United States Fish and Wildlife Services lists the 6 types of turtles that are part of U.S. waters as endangered or threatened. In the U.S., it is illegal to cause any harm or interfere with a sea turtle of the eggs of sea turtles. 6 species of turtles exist in Australian waters, and all 6 are protected under several state and territory laws and Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Any animal that is listed on the endangered list is threatened with extinction.
Any animal that is listed as vulnerable means they may become endangered by the continuing threats.

Watch this Turtle On the Beach

Interesting Facts About Sea Turtles

Sea turtles spend practically all of their lives in water.

  • When the females are going to lay their eggs, they will go on land to a sandy beach

  • The female always returns to the beach they were born on to lay their eggs.

  • Turtles migrate great distances from where they feed to where they nest.

  • Their upper shell is called a carapace. Their lower shell is called a plastron.

  • They have 4 flippers that act as paddles for locomotion through the water.

  • Turtles are reptiles

  • Turtles have lungs to breathe air

  • Their beaks are used to crush or cut their food

  • They swim at great depths and travel long distances.

  • Sea turtles don’t have teeth, tthey use their jaws or beaks.

  • They don’t have ears that you can see, but they have eardrums that is covered by skin.

  • Turtles have an excellent sense of smell,and can hear low frequencies best.

  • They have good vision underwater, but out of water, they are nearsighted.

Sea Turtles are Part of Two Ecosystems

Sea turtles have long lives, but they are prone to predators, disease and hunted for their meat as a delicacy, for soup, and as leather, and selected turtles for their decorative shells. The shells are used as combs, frames for eyeglasses, as an aphrodisiac and as collectible objects. Some people believe the turtle eggs are an aphrodisiac.

It is illegal in many countries to poach turtles. They have become endangereed in large part due to this, and from pollution, and destruction of their habitats and beaches where they lay their eggs. Turtle habitats like coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and beaches where they nest have seriously threatened the survival of these ancient water dwellers. Sometimes turtles get caught in fishing gear and drown, or their eggs and hatchlings have been disturbed and harvested by people. foxes, wild pigs, and other predators. Hawksbill and Loggerhead turtles have very few large nesting places anymore. Hurricanes and changing coastal erosion can have an effect on the nesting success of sea turtles. Even noise, light and other disturbances to the beaches where the females lay their eggs can adversely affect the reproductive success of these marine animals. It was recently discovered that artificial lighting on a highway near a beach created nocturnal confusion for the nesting turtles. The turtles only nest at night, but the lighting confused them and they returned to the ocean without ever laying their eggs. New hatchlings confused by the city street lights crawled the opposite direction of the water and headed towards parking lots and in streets. Sea turtles are part of the coast and marine ecosystems, making them an important part of our ecology. If sea turtles become extinct, both ecosystems they are part of would be negatively impacted. This would adversely affect the natural marine resource people use for foods, and the coastal system we use for different activities.

Have you ever seen a sea turtle up close?

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Disney Featured Crush the Sea Turtle in "Finding Nemo"

Did You Know?

Much of the information that has been gathered about turtles, has been done so by tagging thousands of turtle who migrated to the beaches and by satellite. One loggerhead turtle that was tracked in 1996 swam from Mexico to Japan, 9,000 miles across the entire Pacific Ocean. It is believed turtles use the earth’s magnetic field as a kind of GPS directional system.

Some interesting facts about sea turtles:

  • Green sea turtles can sustain themselves underwater for up to 5 hours. This occurs because their heart rate slows down to conserve oxygen.

  • They can have a span of as much as 9 minutes between heartbeats.

  • A sea turtle can’t withdraw its limbs, head or neck like the land turtles. Retractable limbs would hinder their ability to swim as quick as they do.

  • The green sea turtle got its name because of the color of its body fat.

  • The green sea turtle eats algae and seagrasses.

  • Baby green sea turtles are omnivores, and adults are herbivores.

  • Loggerhead turtles and Ridley turtles eat crabs, mollusks, shrimp and can crush them with their strong beaks.

  • Leatherback turtles eat jellyfish and other sea animals with soft bodies.

  • Females lay eggs only at night.

  • Sand temperatures determine the sex of the turtle.

  • There is no way to tell how old a sea turtle is, by its physical appearance.




Females Return to the Same Beach They Were Born on to Lay Their Eggs

When the female sea turtles are sexually mature, the return to the same beach where they and their prior generations hatched. Using her flippers, the female digs a pit in the sand and lays between 60-130 eggs, depending on the species. Green sea turtles only lay their eggs, at night only, to avoid the heat of the sun. The back flippers help the females excavate the eggs from the egg chamber. They will do this several times until they are satisfied with the nesting conditions. Then they will lay as much as 7 clutches of eggs at once. The eggs are soft so they don't break when they land on top of each other. The eggs are about the size of ping pong balls. They cover the pit with sand and return to the water.  Sea turtles do not parent their young. In fact, they never even see their hatchlings. It takes anywhere from 1 ½ to 2 ½ months, depending on the species, for the eggs to hatch. Sand temperatures determine the sex of the turtle. Cooler temperatures produce more males. Warmer sand temperatures create more females to be born. A drop sand temperatures clue the eggs to hatch mostly in unison.The hatchlings dig out of the pit and climb above the sand to crawl towards the seashore.Once in the water, they swim for several hours and are carried out to deeper waters by the ocean current. Depending on the sea turtle, in 11-40 years, when they have reached sexual maturity, these female hatchinglings will return to this same beach and lay their eggs on these same sandy shores, as their ancestors have done for over 100 million years. That is some tradition!

Nesting Seasons Vary Around the World

Nesting time of the year varies for sea turtles around the world. The United States nesting season goes from April to October. The majority of females will nest at least twice during every mating season. Some can even nest up to 10 times in a season. A female seaturtle won’t will not nest in consecutive years. Usually they skip 1 or 2 years before they nest again.

In the first year after being born, baby turtles are hardly seen. Scientists refer this to the lost years. It is speculated that they live among large areas of sargasso weeds, mostly eating and growing. They are seen again, near coastal shores, when they are about the size of a dinner plate. Turtles spend most of their juvenile and adult life in coastal feeding regions, and will travel thousands of miles to migrate towards the nesting area . Seaturtles mate offshore with several different males. The females store the sperm and fertilize the eggs they lay during the nesting season. Once the females begin to nest, the males return to the feeding region. The females go back to the feeding area when the nesting season is over. It may be several years before they breed again, depending on food availability.

Worth Watching! Female Sea Turtles Come Ashore to Lay Eggs and Hatchlings Go Towards Ocean

Sea turtles are fascinating animals. The endangerment to the species is of particular concern. Many of the conservation efforts have not increased their population yet. Should life on earth still exist in 150 million years from now, will sea turtles be part of the planet? There are things we can all do to help out.

  • We can reduce the amount of plastic garbage we use.
  • Stop the release balloons
  • Don’t throw garbage and plastic in the water. Turtles try to eat this.
  • Eliminate beach lighting. It creates disorientation for the sea turtles.
  • Lessen the use of fertilizers and other chemicals. .
  • Recycling fishing line and other items.
  • Be a cautious and conscientious boater. Sea turtles suffer fatalities with boat interactions.



We can all do our part to help preserve and protect the sea turtles whose ancient ancestry can be traced back to the era of dinosaurs and prehistoric times. It is up to us to help ensure that sea turtles will continue to swim the open waters of our planet Earth.

Read More Animal Articles by ToKnowInfo

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