Interesting Turtle Facts

The sea turtle's body is wonderfully adapted to life in the ocean. Their shells are lighter and more streamlined than those of their terrestrial counterparts, and their front and rear limbs have evolved into flippers making them efficient and graceful swimmers, capable of swimming long distances in a relatively short period of time. Sea turtles have been known to move through the water as fast as 35 mph. When active, sea turtles swim to the surface every few minutes in order to breathe. When sleeping or resting, which usually occurs at night, adult sea turtles can remain underwater for more than 2 hours without breathing. This is due to the fact that turtles are capable of containing higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals, enabling them to use their oxygen very efficiently. Both muscles and blood are able to store oxygen in large quantities, allowing sea turtles to remain underwater for such long periods of time. Juvenile sea turtles have not developed this ability as well as adults and must sleep afloat at the water's surface.

Unfortunately, not all of the hatchlings reach the ocean. Many are snatched up by hungry crabs and other predators along the way or become lost and die. In addition, some are eaten by sharks and other carnivorous fishes while at sea. Only a few baby turtles from each nest will survive into adulthood. This type of a life history strategy exhibited by the green sea turtle can perhaps be more easily understood by comparing it to other patterns that we see in nature.

There were once several million green sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females are thought to remain. In Hawaii, scientists currently estimate that only 100 to 350 females nest each year, predominantly at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian chain.

If you have more turtle facts, please post your comment so we can continue to build the site. The information gathered for this article was taken from EarthTrust.org.