Information Report - Sea turtle

Information Report Sea Turtle

This is an information report on Sea Turtle. Sea turtles are one of the endangered species in the world. They are large, air-breathing reptiles that inhabit tropical and subtropical seas throughout the world. They have been around for a hundred and ten million years.

Physical Description

In this information report on Sea Turtle, we can know about the physical description of sea turtles. The sea turtles’ shells consist of an upper part (carapace) and a lower section (plastron). They are in many different sizes, shapes and colours. Sea turtles do not have teeth. They do not have visible ears, but they have eardrums covered by skin. Their sense of smell is excellent. Their vision underwater is good, but they are nearsighted out of water. Also, most sea turtles are 53-114 cm long. The largest species, the leatherback, can reach 1.2-1.9 m. It is recorded that the largest leatherback was 2.9 m (9.5 ft.) The Leatherbacks can weigh 200 to 660 kg. It is reported weights are up to 870 kg. The sea turtles live up to 80 years.

Diet

Sea turtles are generally omnivores. They eat both animals and plants. Jellyfish is their favourite food source. However, it depends on the size and kinds. Loggerhead eats plants, but when they become adults they eat grabs, whelks, and conchs. Green turtles only eat seagrass and algae. 

Nesting and laying eggs

Females turtles must come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand. Between the months of January and March, female Olive Ridleys come ashore at night to lay their eggs. It scoops out a nest cavity 45 cm deep, into which it lays about 100 eggs. Each egg is in the shape and size of a table tennis ball. Then it camouflages the nest by tossing sand on it using its flippers. That done, it returns to the sea. The eggs are left to incubate under the warmth of the sun. Moreover, this is the most interesting mystery of turtles. The female hatchlings that have become adults return to the same beach where they were born. They come there to lay their own eggs. It’s remarkable that they manage to find the place after so many years in the sea. This is the interesting message in this information report sea turtle.

Species of Sea turtles

There are seven species of sea turtles found in the world. Interestingly, five species have been recorded in the Maldives - the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Threats (dangers)

As sea turtles are one of the endangered species in the world, there are many factors that threaten their survival. People hunt them for their meat or collect their eggs. The eggs are eaten by animals such as dogs, jackals and pigs.  They dig up the turtle nests and eat the eggs. Sometimes they are accidentally trapped in the nets of motorboats. Also, problems like pollution, dumping of plastics into the ocean also hurt their survival. Aim of this information Report Sea turtle is to protect the endangered animal sea turtle.

Awareness and protection

It is illegal to collect, harm or kill sea turtles. The sea turtles help to maintain the health of the seagrass beds and beach vegetation, which protects against loss of marine life and beach erosion. In 1981 an international agreement made it illegal to trade all seven species of sea turtles and their eggs, shells and meat internationally. The Maldivian government also take the initiative to protect sea turtles of the Indian ocean by celebrating the Sea Turtle Protection & Awareness Festival in the Maldives, held in Laamu Atoll.

Hope this information report on sea turtles brings an excellent collection of information.