The Loggerhead And Green Sea Turtles

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

This litter that ends up in the ocean is consumed by many animals. There are about seven different kinds of sea turtles and the world wild life organization is working on conservation on five of them. What’s happening to all of these turtles? Due to debris in the ocean the turtle are getting tangled in the six ring bottle or can holders and getting them stuck around the middle so

The green sea turtle occurs throughout tropical and subtropical oceans and is among the largest of the hard-shelled sea turtles growing to as much as 440 pounds and four feet in length. The breeding populations in Florida were listed as endangered in 1978 (43 FR 32800 32811, July 28, 1978) whereas all other populations were listed as threatened (NOAA 2015h). There is a proposal for identification of a North Atlantic green sea turtle distinct population that would be listed as threatened, continuing its current listing status near New York (80 FR 51763 51764, August 26, 2015). They are found in the shallow waters (except during migration) of shoals, bays, lagoons reefs, and inlets, often where submerged aquatic vegetation exists, from Maine south to Florida, and throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (USFWS 2015n, 2015o; NOAA 2015e). Green sea turtles nests are not present in New York; however, they occasionally are found stranded on or near the shore (NYSDEC 2015ad). Breeding takes places in subtropical to tropical oceans every two, three, or four years between June and September, with peak nesting in June and July (NOAA 2015h; USFWS 2015u). Hatching usually occurs at night, and many green sea turtle hatchlings seek refuge and food in masses of floating sea plants (USFWS

Finally we should make a difference to the loggerhead turtles. We should be careful and think whenever we are going to the beach. A few things that hurt these turtles are commercial fishing and fish trawls that capture the turtles and drown them. Another thing we should not do is marine pollution because the turtles eat things they are not supposed to and most times will die. That last of the 3 reasons is lighting on the beaches that affect the baby turtles of where they’re going and kill them. We should make the world a better place, let’s make a difference

The Cumberland slider turtle is my favorite animal, I’ll tell you all about where it lives and what it lives in.

In Australia, loggerhead turtles nest on open sandy beaches (Environment, 2001). Therefore when hatchlings are born they need to make their way down to the ocean, this makes them vulnerable (Environment, 2001). Baby turtles and most vulnerable when they are scurrying, to the water because there are many obstacles along the way (Nobs, 2004). For example baby turtles mistake artificial lights for the sea and are then more likely to be killed by predators such as birds, raccoons, foxes and cats, which are just a few of the predators these vulnerable creatures face (Marine Bio, 2015). Around 10% of hatchlings from each batch are lost artificial lights each year. To decrease the amount of baby turtles killed we are going to fix how far the artificial lights are between each other. When breeding season takes place there needs to be a rule that four lights every kilometre need to be turned off. This will help by reducing the amount of hatchlings that take a wrong turn towards the light, and attract unwanted predators. This problem could most probably be bought with an organisation called ‘Sand Cloud’. When you purchase one of Sand Cloud’s products, you help to preserve and protect oceans, and Marine Life. 10% of their net profits are donated to saving marine life. In particular turtles. So if this problem was bought up with them they would probably take it up and solve

Other major threats include watercraft strikes and incidental capture in longline fishing, shrimp trawling and marine pollution and debris. Incidental capture in fisheries is thought to have played a significant role in the recent population declines observed for the loggerhead. According to the Sea Turtle Conservancy Organization, in 2004, there were between 40,000 and 50,000 nesting females throughout the

Sea turtle hatchlings are now having trouble finding their way to the sea because of all the lights from buildings that are built on the coast. They get disoriented when they are born and will wander in the wrong way away from the sea. This leads them to predators that live inland or will even cause the turtle to become dehydrated and die. Humans are also building coastal armoring that is blocking female turtles from reaching a suitable nesting habitat. This is a severe problem in Florida where they have many coastal rock elevations and sand bags. Where all this beach development is occurring thousands of sea turtles are trying to nest. Beach dredging is also having a direct effect on sea turtle's trying to nest. If the sand is too impacted or is drastically different from native beach sediment, the mother will have trouble creating the

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).

After approximately two months of a female mother green sea turtle giving birth, the eggs hatch and the hatchlings make their way to the water. The newly hatched green sea turtles are very susceptible to predators, exposure and losing their way. Birds, mammals and other predators love feasting on the young turtles. One of the greatest threats to hatchlings is light pollution near beach nesting sites. The light from buildings and homes confuses the young turtles so that they crawl towards the light and not the ocean.Threats to Green Sea Turtles: Direct and Indirect Overexploitation, Green sea turtles and their food are over hunted; Disease Fibropapilloma, Development; light pollution near beach nesting sites confuses hatchling sea turtles to travel to the light instead of the ocean, Habitat Loss, and Global Warming.” According to the article “Green Sea

Green turtles eat sea grass daily and it is digested and becomes recycled nutrients to the species of plants and animals living in the sea grass ecosystem. This preserves the sea grass beds and allows them to become more productive. A comparison of this would be like mowing the lawn to keep it growing and healthy. It’s important to maintain the sea grass beds because it also offers the purpose of being nurseries for numerous species of fishes, many that are valuable to fisheries, which is important to the human food chain. Green turtle’s hatchlings less than 8 inches in length eat worms, aquatic insects, grasses, and algae. Once the green turtle is bigger than 8 inches they mostly eat sea grass and algae which makes them the only turtle that is strictly herbivorous as an adult.

Sea turtles are one of the few animals that eat sea grass. Just like normal lawn grass, sea grass needs to be constantly cut short to help it grow across the sea floor rather than just getting really long blades. Without constant grazing, sea grass beds obstruct currents and provide a suitable habitat for the growth of slime molds. Sea grass beds provide breeding grounds for many

Turtles are one of the most imperiled groups of animals on the planet. Habitat loss is probably their biggest threat; when a wetland is drained, a field paved over, or a nesting beach overrun with condominiums, there is simply no space left for turtles. But harvesting too many for food has played a key role in driving down turtle

Sea turtles, which have been around for millions of years, are on the brink of extinction. In many countries, people consider their meat and eggs as prized delicacies. Often times they are just killed for their beautiful shell. However, the leading cause of sea turtle death in the US can be attributed to shrimp fishermen and the nets they use to catch shrimp (1). Each year, thousands of sea turtles are carelessly killed even though there are measures which can be taken to avoid this catastrophe. With proper usage of a device called the Turtle Excluder Device (TED), shrimp fishermen could reduce sea turtle deaths in their nets by 97% (5) thereby increasing the likelihood for survival of all six

Furthermore, many of the organisms which are known to regularly consume Leatherback Sea Turtles, whether in egg, hatchling, juvenile, or adult form, would need to find new and likely inadequate food sources. (Wilson, Miller, Allison, & Magliocca, 2010)