Sea Turtles and Conservation

This Monday I want to share with you more about me, and some writing from last year. I am an animal person, always have been. always will be. :) Last year I took a Marine biology class, and decided that I wanted to something with conservation when I go to college. Through different projects and papers I learned so much about the importance of taking care of our oceans and the creatures in them. Today I'd like to share with you a paper I wrote talking about sea turtles. I've also linked at the bottom a YouTube video I did talking about sea turtles. It says some of the things the paper does, but focuses specifically on conservation, rather than sea turtles as a whole. I hope enjoy this, and learn a little as well. 

Introduction

Sea turtles are one of nature’s most fascinating and popular creatures, and yet they are also one of the most endangered. There are fewer and fewer sea turtles around each year. Also, while “sea turtle” is used as a general term, there are seven specific species of sea turtle. (3,3)  One thing that makes sea turtles special is that with the exception of a few species of marine snakes, they are the only living group of reptiles which spend their lives in a marine environment. (1,15)

Characteristics of Sea Turtles

Sea turtles are different from land turtles, and this can be seen especially in the way the body is formed in a sea turtle. Sea turtles have fore and hind flippers, which are paddle shaped. These help it to glide through the water. It’s shell is streamlined, which also helps it glide through the water. It cannot pull its head into its shell like land turtles, but its armored skull and large size makes up for that. (1,9) Their shells are made up of two parts: the carapace, which is the upper part, and the plastron, which is the lower part. These parts are held together by cartilage. Keratinous, scale-like scutes cover the carapace in most species. They have beak-like jaws, and they lack teeth. They do not have external ears, and their eardrums are covered by skin. They hear best at low frequencies; they have an exceptional sense of smell; and, while they can see well underwater, above water they are near sighted. (1,15)

Sea turtles cannot maintain a consistent internal body temperature, which means extreme temperatures can be fatal. (1,16) They do not have internal mechanisms to cool or heat themselves. They rely solely on their environment. This means that they are ectothermic. Sea turtle nesting usually happens at night; the darkness serves as protection from predators and the hot sun. (1,12)

Sea turtles are marine reptiles. They are not fish, and don’t have gills, which in turn means they don’t breathe under water. Instead, they spend most of their time under-water, but come to the surface to breathe. They have special lungs which permit rapid exchange of oxygen. They can sleep and rest while underwater for several hours at a time, but heightened activity or stress shortens this time. This is why they drown relatively quickly when caught in fishing nets. (1,15-16) Fishing nets are just one of the human-inflicted problems sea turtles face.

Sea Turtle Endangerment

As fascinating as sea turtles are, we are running out. Sea turtle numbers keep decreasing, because not very long ago they were heavily hunted for their meat, eggs, shells, oil, and leather. Even though this trade is banned or strictly regulated in most places, humans are still inadvertently killing sea turtles. Thousands of them drown in shrimp nets, gill nets, and on the hooks of long lines each year. Still more are ground up in drudges, entangled in monofilament, or kill by accidentally ingesting plastic. Ocean front property has destroyed nesting beaches, giving sea turtles fewer places to lay their eggs. (1,9) This is a horrible tragedy both in an ethical sense and in a scientific sense.

Fortunately, human efforts to protect the sea turtles are growing. There are many different organizations all over the world working to protect beaches and clean oceans for the turtles. These include the Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization, the Sea Turtle Conservancy, and many, many more.  Researchers are also learning more and more each year about the all the different mysteries surround the sea turtles. (1,13) With everyone’s hard work, the number of sea turtles will hopefully keep growing, and future generations of both species will enjoy that.

Conclusion

Sea turtles are fascinating and beautiful creatures who need someone to fight for their lives as they cannot. Sea turtles have a pretty long lifespan, depending on the species, ranging from 75-100 years. (1,19) However, the odds of a hatchling surviving to reproduce as an adult are less than 1 out of 1,000. (1,20) One out of one thousand. Work is being done to help them, and we need to do all that we can while we still have time. Jeff Ripple puts it well in his book Sea Turtles.  “There is still time-but precious little of it-to ensure that the ancient spectacle of a female loggerhead digging her nest on a moonlit, sandy beach will be a memorable event for future generations of turtles and humans.” (1,13)

References

1: Ripple, J. (1996). Sea Turtles. Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press.

2. Witherington, B. (2006). Sea Turtles An Extraordinary Natural History of Some Uncommon Turtles. St. Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. 

3. Spotila, J. (2004). Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation. Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press.

Link to my video: https://youtu.be/a4UJ10NiL6M