Sea Turtle's Nesting Behavior

Little is known about why sea turtles nest on some beaches and not others, but majority of female sea turtles return faithfully to the same beach each time they are ready to nest.

 Picture from Active Rain

Not only do they choose the same beach to nest each time, they often return to a spot within a few hundreds yards of their last nesting location. Sea turtles are generally slow and awkward on land, and nesting is exhausting work.

Sea Turtles Leaving The Shore

After taking to the water for the first time, male sea turtles will not return to shore again. 

 Picture from Gulf Mex

Females however, will come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the nesting season.  During the first three to five years of life, sea turtles spend most time floating in seaweed beds. Once the sea turtle has reached adulthood it moves closer to the shore.

Sea Turtles Swim Far

Loggerhead sea turtles are the largest of the hard-shelled sea turtles. They have large heads, strong jaws and a reddish-brown shell, and they can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. On average, they’re about 250 pounds though. As far as turtles go, the sea turtles are fast, swimming up to 15 miles per hour. In fact, female loggerheads will sometimes swim thousands of miles to lay her eggs in the exact place that she was born. 

Living Shells

The shell of a turtle or tortoise is made up of about 50 bones that are all connected together. This tissue is very much alive, not like dead tissue found in hair or finger nails. Tortoises also have the ability to store sperm, sometimes producing fertile eggs three years after their last mating.

Bonus Fact: The Galapagos tortoise is the largest living tortoise, weighing approximately 570 pounds.

Animal News: President Bush Designates New Marine Sanctuary in Hawaii

Today, President Bush extended the stronger federal protections to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to guard its endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles and other rare species that live in the area.

This new national monument covers an archipelago (chain of islands) that spans 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide in the Pacific Ocean. This region is home to more than 7,000 species, one fourth of which cannot be found anywhere else. It is the largest no-take marine conservation area in the world, covering 140,000 square miles of largely uninhabited islands, atolls, coral reef colonies and underwater peaks (seamounts).

If you're looking to help protect marine animals, you can buy any of these animal themed card sets. A part of each purchase is donated to help with global conservation,promoting worldwide conservation, and protecting the survival of animals in captivity. The cards are made using soy-based inks and recycled paper.

Look at ‘em go!

Sea Turtles come in a variety of sizes and colors. The largest is the leatherback which can be 4-6 feet long and weigh 440-1115 pounds! Whoa! The smallest sea turtle species is the Olive Ridley—they’re only 22-30 inches long, but still a respectable 65 to 110 pounds.

I think Crush and his family in the movie Finding Nemo are green sea turtles.

Unfortunately, all species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered. The following is a video of baby Kemp’s ridley sea turtles being released by Sea Turtle Inc., a sea turtle rescue organization.

Wish I’d been there. Looks fun to watch.


JJ