Quick Facts About Endangered Sea Turtles

If you ever have the chance to go the the Sea Aquarium, make sure you visit the Sea Turtles. They are some of the oldest creatures on the face of the earth (or under the oceans) They're beautiful and move so gracefully, almost like they own the oceans.

If you ever have the chance to help move a sea turtle nest or to watch a nest hatch and crawl to the ocean, take that opportunity. It is something that is only done once in a lifetime, something most people never get a chance to do.

This lens explores some great information about this beautiful creatures. Please take some time to take a look at the videos and to leave some of your favorite sea turtle websites and comment about your sea turtle experiences.

Sea Turtles only lay their eggs on the beach. The female turtle will swim onto the beach at high tide usually during the hottest part of the summer. She will dig a pit into the beach for her to lay in while she lays the eggs. Then she will dig a chamber for the eggs at the bottom of that pit. There she will lay between 50 and 200 eggs. She will cover them up and leave them to fend for themselves.

They use both their front and rear flippers to dig into the sand. It can take some time, but those flippers can move a lot of sand at the same time. They are extremely strong from moving that large heavy body through the waters of the ocean. When they are done laying their eggs, they will climb out of the hole and use those same flippers to push sand back over the hole they created to lay their eggs in.

The baby turtles have a hard time the first hours of their lives. They not only have to push out of their egg shells, but they have to dig out of the sand to get to the surface. Then they have to crawl from the hole to the water of the ocean. Once in the water, they will be able to stay away from most of the dangers, but that trek across the sand in dangerous. There are birds and other animals that love to eat baby turtles. That is why the mother lays so many eggs. It is a sad game of numbers.

In 2010 we had a major oil spill. This is one of the biggest dangers for the turtles. Raccoons and some snakes have been known to raid unhatched turtle nests and eat all the eggs. When the turtles are hatched, the baby turtles are picked up by crabs, and birds and dogs and many other land animals. That doesn't include the fish and other ocean predators that might kill them once in the ocean.

Other things that can kill sea turtles are lights that draw the turtles away from the ocean. They get run over by cars or dry out from the sun. They also get trapped by our garbage. Plastic can get wrapped around their necks or they swallow the plastic causing digestive problems. They also have problems when they get coated by the crude oil we spilled into the ocean.

The easiest way to help protect Sea Turtles is to take care of your trash. Recycle everything you can. Pick up all trash you see on the beach even if it is not yours.

Offer your help to your local Sea Aquarium. They usually have programs that will allow you to volunteer to help relocate turtle eggs and to stand by as the turtles hatch and crawl to the ocean. This will greatly increase their chances of making it to adulthood.

NO!

They are edible, but they are on the verge of extinction. Please don't eat Turtle Eggs. Our job today is to do everything we can to get those turtles into the Ocean. Please Help wherever you can.

Sea Turtles are extremely maneuverable underwater. You would not know they weighed hundreds of pounds by the way they move in the water. They are extremely graceful. If they can not get out of the way of a predator, they simply pull into their shells and hide that way.

They do. It is an underground business that can get up to $30 per dozen. It is illegal. People do it all the time. It is a delicacy, a softer fluffier egg than chicken eggs. That is no reason to steal them though. they have a hard enough time hatching on their own. They don't need human stealing them and eating them too. It is a sad sad thing. If you are caught, you will be fined and could be taken to jail. They are endangered, so leave them alone. Thank You.