This day was created in the year 2000 by a non-profit organization know as the American Tortoise Rescue to help people celebrate, raise awareness and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world. Today let's focus more on our water friends - Sea Turtles! What do you know about Sea Turtles? Apart from them living in water bodies? Most of us including myself don't really know much about these creatures. Until recently I, myself found out that World Turtle Day existed.
Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups on earth, with the earliest known members dating from the Middle Jurassic Era over 160 million years ago. Now there are approximately 6.5 million turtles around the world. And there are more than 350 turtle species. From these only seven species of sea turtles exist, and six out of the seven are considered endangered. If we dig deeper, two out of the six are considered critically endangered.
Let's get to know the seven sea turtle species.
Hawkbill Sea Turtle - critically endangered Known for it's sharp and pointy beak as well as it's beautiful shell, sadly they are exploited and illegally trafficked for jewellery.
Green Sea Turtle - Endangered Known to be the largest hard-shelled turtle. They are unique because they are herbivores and they received their name for the color of their body fat!! Wow!
Loggerhead Turtle - Endangered Loggerheads are named for their massive heads and strong jaws. They are also considered as 'Keystone species' which means other animals on it's ecosystem depends on this reptile for survival.
Leatherback Sea Turtle - Vulnerable The largest turtle in the world. And the only species of sea turtles with no hard shell. Their shells are Leather-like, therefore the name. Adult Leatherback grows longer than an average size man! Woah!
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle - Vulnerable This turtle is one of the smallest in the world. And it's known for its heart shaped shell which turns from Grey to Green when they become adults.
Flatback Sea Turtle Flatback turtles are known for their flat shell. And they have the smallest geographic range, found only around Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle - Critically endangered Kemp Ridley's also known as the shy one are the smallest and rarest species of sea turtles which almost went into extinction in the 1960s.
Learn more about the sea turtles here.
Here are some interesting facts about Sea turtles.
Sea Turtles don't have teeth!!! Whaaat?? They use their beak! The interesting fact about their beak is, it's made up of keratin, a type of protein that makes our hair, skin and fingernails!!
The gender of the sea turtles depends on the temperature. Cooler incubation temperatures produce male hatchlings, while warmer incubation temperatures produce female hatchlings -which is the reason why climate change is affecting the population by creating too many females and too few males to match them for reproduction.
Sea Turtles always return home. Females return to the same beach they hatched on when it's the time to lay their own eggs.
Sea Turtles use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate. This is how they return home! Wow! Research shows that sea turtles can sense the strength and direction of the sun and Earth’s magnetic field, which gives them a sense of where they are in the world.
Turtles can't come out of their shells!!! The turtle's shell grow with them. The shell is more flatter making them fast under water. However they are vulnerable on land.
They live for about 100 years!! And that's the amount of eggs females lay every time they nest!
Why are Sea Turtles considered endangered?
Because the greatest threat to their existence are Human beings! As per WorldWildLife, we have caused danger to these innocent reptiles. From slaughtering to poaching to accidental capture to Habitat destruction and pollution. Sadly the survival scales have tipped against them.
This link will share more information https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle.
How can we help our Water Friends?
Our island nation is home to five of the sea turtles species. They are Green, Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and the Hawksbill sea turtle. There are several conservations around the coastal area of our island. We can donate for this cause. Or even better, volunteer for beach clean ups, as this helps during nesting period.
These are some of the turtle conversation site that you can learn more on.
Please try to reduce plastic usage, pollution is never ending, so if you do visit coastal areas, make it a habit to pick up plastics laying around. This is the best way we can help them. They belong here. This is their world too.
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