Sea Turtles
One of the most well-known types of turtle is the sea turtle, which can be found in all the ocean’s of the world, with the exception of the Arctic Ocean.
Currently, there are seven species of sea turtles that are still living on Earth: flatback, green, hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and Olive Ridley.
Physiology
Typically, sea turtles will live up to 80 years in the ocean, with a deep sensitivity to the magnetic field of the Earth, which they use to return to the location of where they were born throughout their lives. For most of the sea turtle species, after about 30 years of maturing, the female sea turtles will return to land to nest at night on the same beach they were hatched. Typically, this will take place every two to four years in maturity.
After digging a hole that is just over one foot deep, they lay their eggs, around 150 to 200 eggs, and then refill it and smoothing the hole over so it is indistinguishable from the sand around it. All of this, takes less than an hour.
Once hatched, the baby sea turtles will proceed into the ocean where they will become vulnerable to predators and sea currents. Often, the sea turtles will live in thick mats of unanchored seaweed that is floating in the middle of the ocean.
Sea Turtles and Humans
Despite being endangered, and therefore illegal to hunt, sea turtles have had a tough time in sharing the Earth with humans. In fact, the Hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley and Leatherback turtles are all listed as critical in terms of how close they are to being extinct. In whaling days, turtles used to be hunted on a large scale for their meat and shells. However, now, they are becoming increasingly endangered due to being ensnared in fishing nets by boats. In 2007 alone, over 1,000 sea turtles were killed in the Bay of Bengal as a result of becoming trapped in fishing nets. Thankfully, inexpensive devices like Turtle Exluder Devices, on the nets can reduce the killing turtles by 97 percent.
In many areas, beach development is taking away the nesting areas of the turtles, which threatens their species. However, in some areas, like Florida, after the eggs are laid, humans dig them up and put them in fenced nurseries. However, even this can cause problems since turtles return home to their beach when they bread, and many hatchlings can become confused.
Conclusion
Sea turtles are an amazing species that has adapted itself to life under the ocean and become a very versatile group of species. However, due to human involvement, their numbers are threatened and if nothing is done, the next century could see the demise of the sea turtle.