Largest of the hard-shelled turtles, the endangered loggerhead sea turtle can be found in all but the coldest ocean waters.
Photograph by Brian J. Skerry
Green sea turtles are reptiles whose ancestors evolved on land and took to the sea to live about 150 million years ago. They are one of the few species so ancient that they watched the dinosaurs evolve and become extinct.
Photograph by Tim Laman
A female leatherback sea turtle digs a nest in the sand for her eggs. Only about one of every 1,000 hatchlings survives to adulthood.
Photograph courtesy National Park Service/Canaveral National Seashore
A hawksbill turtle swims just above the seafloor with flippers spread like wings. Hawksbills get their name from their tapered heads, which end in a sharp point resembling a bird’s beak.
Photograph by Nick Caloyianis
Sea Turtles' Mystery Hideout Revealed
Wed Sep 19, 12:25 AM ET
Once sea-turtle hatchlings hit the surf, they vanish for up to five years. Where the half-dollar-size tots spend these "lost years" while ballooning to the size of dinner plates has been a mystery, until now.
New research, published today in the online edition of the journal Biology Letters, indicates the green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) hide out in the open ocean, where they feast on jellyfish and other marine creatures.
Not only did the researchers spot their short-lived sea homes, but they discovered that these reptiles, thought to be lifelong vegetarians, are actually meat eaters as juveniles.
The results help to solve a 50-year-old mystery about the hideouts. “This has been a really intriguing and embarrassing problem for sea-turtle biologists, because so many green-turtle hatchlings enter the ocean, and we haven’t known where they go,” said study team member Karen Bjorndal, a zoologist and director of the University of Florida's Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research.
Before this study, scientists had two "snapshots" that provided scant clues about the missing information on the lives of green turtles: When they hatch, the 2-inch-long (5-centimeters) sea turtles push through seemingly colossal surf. Then, between three and five years later, the now juveniles reappear closer to shore.
"Literally, when green turtles run off their nesting beach and into the ocean as little hatchlings, they disappear. And nobody sees them again [for years]," Bjorndal told LiveScience.
The scientists collected samples from the shells of 44 green sea turtles at a site near Great Inagua in the Bahamas. They analyzed heavy and light stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen from both the oldest (earliest-grown) and newest sections of the shells. The isotopes act as fingerprints for an animal's diet (carnivore or herbivore) and where in the ocean the animal lived.
The results indicated the green sea turtles spent their lost years in the deep ocean, feeding as carnivores, before moving closer to shore and switching to a vegetarian diet of sea grasses.
The findings have implications for conservation of the green turtles, because as Bjorndal explained, "you can't protect a species if you don’t know where it is."
Betty Kratzke noticed that something was disturbing the ground near the flowers that line her driveway. Solving the mystery this week proved to be a snap - when baby snapping turtles started crawling around her yard."They just keep popping up out of the hole," said Cliff Hanson, Kratzke's brother-in-law.The turtles had recently hatched and were no bigger than a half dollar coin, said Darrell Perry, another brother-in-law.Family members scooped up 44 turtles in all. They were put in a cardboard box and taken to the nearby James River."They went swimming away like crazy," Kratzke said.Snapping turtles live to be decades old and can grow up to 40 pounds, said Gene Van Eeckhout, a biologist with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. They do not make nice pets, he said."They're not very friendly to play with," Van Eeckhout said.Kratzke said she thought some sort of animal was disturbing her flowers. "But it was a long ways from being a muskrat or a raccoon," she said. "They are the cutest little things."Perry said the experience was one to remember."While they were coming out, we just stood there and watched them in amazement," he said.
FAQs about Alligator Snapping Turtles
Q: Is it Macroclemys temminckii or Macrochelys temminckii? A: According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the currently accepted name is Macrochelys temminckii. Some time ago (we're not sure how long ago), Macroclemys temminckii, was the accepted scientific name. Many internet sources still refer to the species this way.
Q: Is the Alligator Snapping Turtle on the endangered species list? A: No, not according to the U.S. Wildlife & Fisheries Service. But, over the past several decades it's numbers have been decreasing. Once upon a time, a casual sportsman could catch an Alligator Snapper in an afternoon. Now, due to unregulated commercial harvesting and habitat loss, they are an uncommon take. Louisiana only just recently, in November of 2004, passed a law banning the commercial trade of the turtles. It was the last of the states to do so.
Q: How long do they live? A: In captivity, they have been known to live up to 70 years. Their life span in the wild is not known
. Q: How big do they get? A: The largest ones can get to about 30 inches. The females are much smaller than the males. In captivity they've been known to grow to 200 pounds or so, but in the wild they tend to not be quite as well fed.
Q: What do they eat? A: Young loggerheads are generally more carnivorous than adults who are not picky and will eat just about anything offered to them. Ours have dined on rats, chickens, acorns, water hyacinth, and the occasional amphiuma.
Q: How many eggs do they produce? A: They lay eggs every 3 years or so. On average a female will produce two or three dozen eggs per clutch. Mind you, some will lay more; some will lay less.
The Largest Coral Reef in the World-The Great Barrier Reef, Australia,Photos
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world, roughly parallel to the coast of Queensland, Australia, for almost 2,000km. Australia has almost 1/5th of the world's reef area and most is located in the (GBR) Great Barrier Reef.
Reefs form where temperatures don't fall below 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit) for long periods, so are usually found between 30 degrees north and south of the equator. Most require very saline water, also the water must be very clear so light penetrates. Corals found in the Great Barrier Reef contain algae and the relationship between the algae produce oxygen and help the coral to remove wastes. When this relationship breaks down, the coral suffers and becomes bleached. Bleaching is a major worry for those looking after reef health, as coral dies if bleaching is prolonged.
Washed by the warm waters of the South-West Pacific Ocean the perfect environment is created for the world's largest system of coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef is of such pristine condition that it was listed by the World Heritage Trust as a protected site and is therefore managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure that its beauty is maintained for many generations to come.
Visitors in their thousands come to the Great Barrier Reef to marvel at the spectacular sight seeing opportunities that is unique to our area. The Wet Tropics World Heritage listed Rainforest on one side and the Great Barrier Reef on the other. No other place in the world offers such diversity so close to each other.
Spectacular Reef Photos-Underwater, Indonesia
Wakatobi Dive Resort
Our intimate, eco-friendly resort is located in the Wakatobi archipelago in remote Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia where we are the only fully licenced dive tourism operator. The resort itself is situated on a small island locally called Onemobaa. Our island is beside Tomia Island, one of four major islands covering an area of 821 sq. km. The beautiful resort is built directly at the seaside, with all bungalows spaced along our exquisite beach.
Wakatobi Dive Resort is a destination that caters to divers and nature-lovers looking for world-class diving far from crowds and commercialism -- off the beaten path.
Special Thanks to Lumpy for this article:
Lumpys Ocean Life
Take Action with SeaTurtles.org
http://seaturtles.org/index.cfmWhat You Can Do
It is through the support and efforts of individuals like you that we will keep the turtles here for generations to come. Whether you have 5 minutes to spare or 5 hours, there is always something you can do help our campaigns to save the sea turtles. Here are a few suggestions:
Add your voice to our Action Alerts.
Click on the Action Alerts on the right side of this page to send emails to government, agency, and corporate officials, advocating protections for sea turtles and other related issues.
Circulate our petitions.
Get your family, friends and coworkers to sign, using it as an opportunity to educate them about the threat to our oceans. Better yet, collect signatures at a public event, a grocery store, at a vegetarian restaurant, etc. http://seaturtles.org/index.cfmYou can download our current petitions here
http://seaturtles.org/index.cfmJoin our email alerts list.
You will be emailed 2-3 times per month with simple actions you can do to help protect sea turtles. Click here to sign up.
Avoid eating longline-caught fish.
We must take the financial incentive out of unsustainable fishing for "cash fish" by reducing consumer demand. Tell people about the devastation and unsustainability of longline fishing. Explain the dangers of eating fish with high mercury content and promote our Mercury Calculator.
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