About Sea Turtles

Physical

The largest turtles that have ever lived, and are now living, are sea turtles. They have limbs modified into flipper-like forelimbs for efficient swimming, without toes and lightweight shells. Their heads are too large to be withdrawn into the shell. They spend most of their lives in the water. And generally leave the water only during the breeding season, when the female emerges to dig a nest on land and deposit her eggs. Because of their large flippers many large sea turtles have great difficulty pulling themselves up on the beaches to dig nests to lay eggs. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans. Sea turtles, all of which swim rapidly, rank as the fastest turtles. One of these species, the green turtle, can swim for brief periods at a speed of nearly 20 miles per hour.

Types of Sea Turtles

The Green turtle is named for the greenish color of its fat. It is a large, heavy reptile, usually about 0.7–1.0 m in shell length and about 90–140 kg in weight. The upper shell of the green turtle is wide and smooth, and the overall coloring of the animal is brown or slightly greenish. It is found in warm, coastal waters around the world. It feeds mainly on marine grasses and, unlike other sea turtles, sometimes emerges onto land to bask

The Loggerhead is a large turtle similar to the green turtle but with a relatively larger head. It is reddish brown or brown in color. The loggerhead attains a shell length of about 0.7–2.1 m and can weight about 135 kg. It is found in oceans throughout the world, is a carnivorous reptile with a reportedly bad disposition.

The Hawksbill is a relatively small sea turtle that takes its common name from the shape of its hooked jaws and the overlapping plates on its upper shell. The hawksbill is found in warm waters throughout the world and is an aggressive reptile that feeds on both plant and animal material. It usually attains a shell length of about 16–22 inches and a weight of about 29–100 lb.

The Ridleys are small sea turtles with wide, rounded shells. The Atlantic Ridley is a gray turtle with a shell about 60–79 cm long. It is found in the Gulf of Mexico. The Pacific Ridley (Olive Ridley) inhabits warm waters of the Indo-Pacific region. The Pacific Ridley is a greenish color and larger than the Atlantic Ridley. It feeds on both animal and vegetable material.

The seventh species, the Leatherback, forms its own family. Its shell has far fewer bones than that of the other sea turtles and is covered with skin rather than scutes. It will often ventures into cold Canadian waters.

All sea turtles except the Australian Flatback may be found in the coastal waters of the United States.

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Some text from and copyright to: Bartleby.com, Inc. http://www.bartleby.com, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2002 Columbia University Press. All Rights Reserved. Used for educational purposes only.