Sea Turtle Facts

Sea turtles are reptiles perfectly adapted to life in the ocean. Their streamlined bodies, large size, and strong front flippers allow them to dive deeply and travel long distances. These front flippers are elongated, narrow, and shaped like wings, while the rear flippers are shorter. Although sea turtles can stay underwater for several hours while resting, they usually come up multiple times each hour to breathe.

There are seven recognized species of sea turtles: the green sea turtle, hawksbill, loggerhead, olive ridley, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, and flatback turtles.

Sea turtles are among the planet’s oldest living creatures, having existed for about 110 million years with little change. Most species have a top shell, called a carapace, made of bony plates covered with horny scales known as scutes. Unlike land-dwelling turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their heads into their shells. The smallest sea turtles are the ridleys, weighing 85–100 pounds (38–45 kg) as adults, while the largest, the leatherback, can reach up to 2,000 pounds (900 kg). Sea turtles grow slowly and can live for many decades.

Range

Of the seven species, the flatback turtle is the only one not found in U.S. waters, living exclusively along the coast of Australia.

Life Cycle

Sea turtles typically mate every two to three years in shallow waters. During summer, females begin an ancient nesting ritual by crawling onto sandy beaches to lay eggs. Using their rear flippers, they dig a nest and deposit 80 to 150 eggs, which are roughly the size of ping-pong balls.

Once the eggs are laid, the female covers and camouflages the nest before returning to the ocean. A female may come ashore multiple times during a single nesting season to lay additional clutches of eggs.

Like many reptiles, the temperature of the nest influences the sex of the hatchlings. Warmer nests produce more females, while cooler nests produce more males. Because of this, conservationists usually leave the eggs in place so that natural sex ratios are maintained.

After about two months of incubation, the eggs hatch. Hatchlings are typically 1.5 to 3 inches (3.8–7.6 cm) long depending on the species and emerge in groups, usually at night. They navigate to the sea by orienting themselves to the bright horizon over the water. Once they reach the ocean, male hatchlings never return to land, while females only return to nest many years later.

Artificial lights from buildings or roads near beaches, called light pollution, can confuse hatchlings and lead them away from the ocean. To protect these young turtles, many coastal communities have rules requiring lights to be turned off or shielded during nesting and hatching seasons.

Conservation

All species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered. They face multiple risks, including pollution, habitat destruction from coastal development, accidental capture in fishing gear, and illegal trade of meat and shells.

In the U.S., sea turtles are managed jointly by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Fisheries Service oversees turtles in the ocean, while the Fish & Wildlife Service protects turtles on nesting beaches.

Fun Fact

Sea turtles do not have teeth, but they have extremely strong jaws capable of crushing, biting, and tearing their food.