Cumberland Slider Autobiography

Now, as most may know sea turtles are both marine and land animals depending on what stage of life they are in. Which means that they need to be able to go on land during certain stages of their lives. One of the main reasons why a sea turtle will go on to land is to lay their eggs. Within the last few years this has become harder and harder for the already endangered species. It

Habitat: Their habitats are on crops, arable and waste land, gardens. Commonly on footpaths and in

The leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, belong in the phylum of Chordate, class of reptilian, order of Testudines, and the family of Dermochelyidae. These reptiles can be found throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Leatherback sea turtles are the largest turtles in the world. The average life expectancy of a leatherback turtle is forty-five years. Average size of the turtles upper shell, carapace, is about five feet and has a rubber-like texture feel to it consisting mainly of oil-saturated connective tissue. On average Dermochelys coriacea can weigh any where from approximately six hundred to two thousand pounds. In length these turtles are typically fifty-five to seventy-nine inches. The lack of claws is another distinguishing

All species are found in North America and tend to be nocturnal, but they inhabit relatively unique niches, which is evident in various minute differences between the species, including fur and nose size. C. townsendii tends to live in evergreen forests that have a moderate climate while C. mexicanus lives in higher, more humid and mountainous habitats. For this reason, C. townsendii has a darker, thicker coat; not only does it act as better natural camouflage, but the coarse, thick hair protects it well from the environment. C. refenisquii is found primarily in the Southwestern United States, but migrates frequently due to the changes in

This rare turtle found in the United States is the smallest species of turtle in the United States. It can only grow up to 4.5 inches long! This tiny turtle is in two very small distinct populations that are approximately 250 miles away from each other. These turtles are very recognizable by the orange patches on their head. The National Fish and Wildlife foundation says, “In the last 30 years, these turtles have disappeared from more than 50 percent of the wetlands it once inhabited.” I believe we should be resurrecting more of the land that they used to live on.

A group of researchers studied this at Rio de la Plata, a bay between Argentina and Uruguay. Using satellite telemetry from nine Chelonia mydas the researchers tagged and data on the concentration and distribution of marine waste (accounting only for plastics debris) they created a map displaying the overlapping areas of debris and Chelonia mydas foraging areas (González et al., 2014). The researchers report that the map depicts the average green turtle encountered 9 pieces of plastic every square kilometer of the overlapping areas of debris and foraging (González et al., 2014). Which led to Chelonia mydas accidentally ingesting copious amounts of debris, though death by consumption of plastic debris is rare, the ingestion of chemicals from plastic debris can hinder somatic growth and procreation turnout (González et al., 2014). To gain better understanding how much plastic debris was consumed due to their exposure, the research team examined 62 adolescent Chelonia mydas, 90 percent of the 62 turtles had eaten 13 pieces of plastic on average, 98 percent of it was found in the green turtle’s large intestines (González et al., 2014). While ingestion of plastic debris can have negative effects on the development and reproduction of Chelonia mydas, but two biggest

In particular, one of these seven species is comprised of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). The largest of all hard-shelled turtles, loggerheads have massive heads, strong jaws, and a reddish-brown shell, or carapace. Their front flippers are short and thick with 2 claws, while the rear flippers can have 2 or 3 claws. Loggerhead hatchlings have a dark-brown carapace with pale brown flippers. According to National Geographic (2015), adult males reach about three feet (nearly one meter) in shell length and weigh about 250 pounds (113 kilograms), but large specimens of more than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) have been found. They are primarily carnivores, munching jellyfish, conchs, crabs, and even fish, but will eat seaweed occasionally. They prefer to feed in coastal bays and estuaries, as well as the shallow water along the continental shelves of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Loggerhead, hawksbill, green and Kemp’s ridley turtle species dwell on Cayo Costa. Loggerhead leads in the count with green turtles running a distant second. Threats to these nests on Cayo Costa include the common raccoon, foxes, ants, ghost crabs, high tide and humans.

To warm up, they bask in the sun. In winter, all reptiles in our area must hibernate to survive the cold.” This explains the uncommon sighting of most turtles this time of the season. But as soon as the weather warms up, the turtles start to come out to bask for warmth. When we were on our class trip to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, we encountered a dead turtle. The lifeless shell was flipped over and cracked. It almost appeared as it was frozen. As discussed as a class, what we were observing was in fact a turtle trying to bask in the sun on a warm spring day and the weather turn for the worst the following day, leaving the turtle to suffer. Another example of a turtle encounter was last summer in central park. On a warm sunny day, I went on a boat ride in the central park pond. On the nearby rocks, there were numerous turtles basking in the sun and cooled off by diving into the water. With my fascination of turtles, I made the person rowing with me row closer to get an up close look. Some people may wonder how these turtles get here? Most of the time, they are brought into an area as pets and then released by owners. This causes stress on the animal and its

Rarely interact with one another outside courtship and mating. Even when large numbers of turtles gather on feeding grounds or during migration, little behavioural exchange among individuals. Their typical daily routine includes feeding and resting. When not nesting, they can migrate up to hundreds of thousands of miles. They can sleep at the surface while in deep water or on the bottom wedged between rocks or under ledges in reefs.

Nesting habitat degradation is an anthropogenic threat to the loggerhead sea turtles. These threats include coastal development, erosion control barriers or beach armoring, artificial lighting, pollution, removal of native vegetation, and vehicle and pedestrian traffic (NMFS and USFWS 2007). Some solutions include protecting and managing turtles on nesting beaches, monitor coastal construction, implement lighting regulations, screen artificial lighting with vegetation, and impose regulations on beach armoring (NMFS and USFWS 1998). Predation is an important threat to consider in nesting areas for the loggerhead. Many places have depredation to protect the eggs and hatchlings against predators such as feral dogs, raccoons, and foxes (NMFS and USFWS 2007).

The species’ plastron bears similar markings to those of the carapace, i.e., wide, pale-yellow stripes on a darker background. Between the pectoral and the abdominal plastral scutes, the species’ plastron features a flexible hinge that divides the plastron into two lobes. The combination of a relative long, hinged plastron and a high-domed carapace enables the ornate box turtle to completely withdraw into its shell, thereby “boxing” itself inside and protecting the soft tissues of its head, limbs and tail quite effectively against attacks by predators.

Imagine a world of chaos. We see things like that all the time in movies, where zombies roam the earth and there are just those few main survivors left. The world is in ruins. If ocean life was to die out, there would be a collapse of civilization as a whole. Just like we see on TV, the world would become a place where no order exists. This would lead to human extinction. The ocean dies, we die along with it, and if sea turtles die, so does the ocean. In simple words, one could say that human life depends on sea turtles. In this speech I will be covering three topics. First, how a sea turtle’s diet benefits marine life and humans, second, how sea turtles provide homes and food for other species, and last, how sea turtles protect beaches from washing away.

Sturgeons are mostly found in the southern rivers of Russia and Ukraine and in the freshwaters of North America.

Turtles are reptiles that have shells to protect them. They come onto land to lay their eggs.