Sea turtles live in the ocean. They don’t loiter around so
much as cruise the whole sea, taking in shallow coastal lagoons, stopping by seamounts,
and crossing the open ocean on high seas highways, only ever returning to land
to lay eggs.
They are truly creatures of the ocean. And they are pretty special.
Today is World
Turtle Day– so what better excuse to shell out a bit of love and respect
to these most iconic ocean ambassadors?
Turtles are ancient creatures, largely unchanged for many
millions of years. The biggest turtle roaming our seas today is the massive
leatherback, a turtle with a leathery shell that can grow to be as big as a
double bed. But even they start life as a ping—pong ball sized egg.
Baby turtles are both criminally cute, and phenomenally
fearless. Their first trial in life is a daring
dash across the beach from where their mother laid eggs. Only the most
fortunate and fearless make it to the sea by dodging predators such as birds,
crabs and foxes. Teeny infant hero turtles!
Today’s turtles are just tiddlers when compared to the
extinct species Archelon. This ‘Dino-turtle’
was twice as long as today’s leatherbacks, with its head alone up to a metre in
length.
Some turtles are named for the way they look, the loggerhead
has a big head, and the hawksbill has a very pronounced beak. Green turtles
though are named for having green fat under its shell, rather than describing
what colour it is outside.
Different species have different tastes in food: from somewhat
dull diets of jellyfish or sea grass, to sponges to crunchy crabs. Some are
even known to snack on flying fish, which is pretty impressive catching.
Like other reptiles, turtle babies’ gender is influenced by
temperatures: hotter temperatures produce more females. A recent study showed
this is an
increasing threat to turtles as a result of climate change.
Six out of the seven of the world’s species of turtles are
in danger, from us - entanglement in fishing gear, habitat destruction,
pollution and hunting have all taken their toll. Greenpeace is working to
tackle destructive methods of fishing which catches and kills
turtles, as well as climate change and pollution, and we’ve campaigned
against the destruction
of nesting sites.
But now we need your
help to protect turtles’ ocean homes.
We’re working to establish a global
network of protected ‘ocean sanctuaries’ on the open seas, areas beyond any
one country’s own jurisdiction. From the Mediterranean to the Sargasso, the
North Pacific to the Bay of Bengal, protecting these areas will help our
turtles.
So, on World Turtle Day please join us by adding
your name to the call for ocean sanctuaries so we can lobby governments on
behalf of you, and our turtle-y awesome flippery friends.