Sea Turtles are a creature that we love to see while Scuba Diving. They are large air-breathing reptiles that have been around more than 110 million years. Sea turtles are one of the earth’s most ancient creatures. Their shell is streamlined for swimming and unlike other turtles, they cannot retract their legs.
Seven species of sea turtles can be found:
Green Sea Turtle
Loggerhead
Kemp’s Ridley
Leatherback
Hawksbill
Olive Ridley
Flatback
The Flatback can only be found in Australia. Six of these species are classified as endangered due to human impact, hunting bycatch, pollution, and climate change.
They are found in warm temperate waters throughout the world and feed on jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails, algae, and mollusks.
Sea Turtles migrate hundreds of miles for nesting and feeding. The females return to the same nesting grounds at which they were born. Eggs hatch after 60 days, then move from the nest to the water. Once they hatch juveniles do not return to shore, so it makes it difficult to keep track of the actual turtle population. It is estimated that only 1 in 1,000 juveniles survive to adulthood.
Since their life span is usually longer than most research projects, it is difficult to actually measure their life span over a long period. The best estimate is they live for about 80 years.
Now you know some facts about those amazing Sea Turtles that we see while we dive.