Sea turtles, in my opinion, are one of the most fascinating creatures on Earth. They are beautiful looking creatures, and I'm so excited to see and learn about them! I think its very interesting that we are able to see such a rare species on Earth. But they have been on Earth for nearly 100 million years! These turtles have an incredible life span, at nearly 100 years. Though not a lot is known about this creature, there is ample information regarding its life cycle, diet, and
breeding patterns. Hopefully, we can expound upon the information we know as we visit the Galapagos Islands!
 |
| A Green Sea Turtle |
Sea turtles, more specifically green sea turtles, have a variety of food in their diet, ranging from jellyfish and shrimp to algae and seaweed, though they generally become more herbivorous as they mature. They generally frolic around warm and temperate waters, sometimes thousands of miles from the nearest beach. However, to lay their eggs after breeding, females, identified by their shorter tails compared the male's longer tail, embark on exhausting and time consuming journeys not only to the beach, but on it as well. When they first arrive to the beach, the females usually make a rigorous trip up the beach to secure a nest. This nest, opposed to a birds nest, which is made of sticks and other items, is in fact a burrow. When the female arrives at her preferred area, she will first flap her hind and front flippers to move sand and create an open area. Then, without looking, she digs a nearly 3 foot deep hole with her hind flippers to lay her eggs. Amazingly, the depth of this hole, which determines the temperature the eggs will incubate in, determines the sex of the hatchlings. Generally, if the temperature is above or below 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the hatchlings will be female or male, respectively. In each burrow, the amount of eggs ranges from 50 to 350 eggs. After sitting for nearly 2 months, the departure a large crowd of baby sea turtles flocks towards the ocean, each trying to make it out into the ocean. However, due to this trip being quite treacherous, only a few will ever actually make the journey. What a sight this would be! Hopefully we will be able to see this in action, though it is very unlikely given the time of year.
 |
| Map of Green Sea Turtle hotspots |
Sea turtles can be found usually over continental shelves, but never found the poles of Earth, due to the cold climate. The younger sea turtles are generally found farther away from the shore, and as they mature they slowly move towards the shore. The green sea turtle, for example, is found in tropical and sub tropical waters found near the equator. You can see the red dot of the Galapagos on the map to the right!
 |
| Sea Turtle affected by pollution |
Predators for the sea turtles depend on the age of the turtle. When the baby turtles are making their run towards the ocean, predators like foxes, raccoons, and seabirds are the main reason for the low survival rate. In addition, large fish along the shore contribute to this low survival rate and further enlarge the risk of the migration. Even other turtles are predators to the babies. However, as the turtles age, larger predators like sharks and crocodiles threaten them. Alongside living predators, other things are dangerous to turtles as well.
Pollution and fishing gear are a perfect example of how outside factors affect their survivability. Plastic bags, fishing lines, and many other items may damage their habitat and the turtle itself. Human expansion and development along the coasts destroys their habitats and further affects their lifestyle. Do you think that this is a problem that should be highlighted and solved within our society? What could we do to help?
I think this pressing issue of human interaction with sea turtles is one that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. These sea turtles are suffering from the laziness and carelessness of humans. In order to help the problem, they should make fishing line that dissolves in the water a sufficient amount of time. Also, the fines for littering in the ocean should be doubled in order to make the punishment more severe.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will. The issue of littering into the ocean is a huge problem today. So many animals suffer from being trapped in our man-made materials and are helpless to the trash that we let get into their own habitats. There should definitely be stricter laws about littering, and a big part of that is that fisherman also litter into the ocean and just think the trash will eventually dissolve.
ReplyDeleteI think that the pollution of our oceans as a result of human expansion is one of the most important issues in our world today. I believe that if we don't solve this problem sooner rather than later our oceans will look significantly different then what the used to, lifeless. People are being too careless with their trash, sewage, and overall pollution, and it is destroying the oceans. The impacts pollution and trash in the ocean has on the sea turtles is a prime example of what can and will happen to all marine species.
ReplyDeleteI do believe these are issues we need to address. Conservation efforts to protect over population and destruction of habitats can only do so much, and waste that gets caught in the waves can be dangerous for many different species. Many of the trash that finds its way into the oceans can poison or suffocate an unsuspecting animal. This is wrong, yet there are not many ways to reduce this from happening at the moment. With population increase even as people stop using as many products there is still not a significant increase because there are more people to provide for. However, if companies started using biodegradable materials or if people could better supervise what happened to how they threw items away there could be a small yet helpful impact. Stricter housing codes, on the other hand, could greatly impact human's developmental on the environment by protecting stretches of beaches so that sea turtles may hatch their eggs safely.
ReplyDeleteI do believe these are important issues that need to be addressed. Human expansion and development are major issues that effect all sorts of other plants and animals just like Sea Turtles. If humans continue to consume and pollute the land that is also a home to thousands of other organisms like we have been doing, millions and billions of species will suffer as the result. I think it is very important to spread awareness of these issues and to teach people how to properly deal with problems. For example, not leaving trash on the beaches and/or in the water.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an issue, but we could not solve it without major changes. We already have several protected beaches along the Gulf coast for sea turtles to lay their eggs, but we could go a step further by scaring away crabs and birds that would normally eat the baby sea turtles. Cleaning the oceans is important for many reasons, but it would be very difficult to clean and impossible to stop littering in the future. Making and enforcing laws to stop using the oceans for waste disposal would work for some countries. In others, the government does not have enough power to stop the companies or the companies have no alternative. We already have many measures in place to stop the extinction of sea turtles, and the next steps are impossible to take.
ReplyDelete