Connect To Sea – Today, let’s dig deeper into the lives and challenges faced by sea turtles, based on information from the National Today page and Tribunnews.com:
1. Turtles can live between 50 to 100 years, showing extraordinary resilience and adaptation in marine ecosystems.
2. Some turtles travel long distances of more than 1,000 miles to return to their nesting sites, displaying an amazing migratory instinct.
3. The turtle nesting process occurs several times a season, at intervals of about two weeks and is capable of laying up to 125 eggs in one nest.
4. Most turtles nest at night, but exceptions such as Kemp’s ridley nest during the day.
5. Kemp’s leatherback turtles have the ability to dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet, demonstrating a unique adaptation to life in the deep ocean.
6. Unlike other types of turtles, sea turtles do not have the ability to retreat into their shells as a defense mechanism.
7. Most sea turtles nest in “arribadas,” a Spanish term that describes their mass arrival to beaches to lay their eggs, an amazing natural phenomenon.
In addition, the temperature of sea turtle nests plays an important role in determining the sex of the hatchlings that will be born. Male hatchlings are usually born in cooler temperatures, while female hatchlings are born in warmer temperatures. Uncontrolled temperature changes can lead to the birth of a combination of both sexes.
Unfortunately, almost all sea turtle species are currently considered endangered due to negative impacts such as marine debris, habitat destruction, and hunting practices for turtle meat and eggs .
