The Sea Turtle
Welcome! This is the Sea Turtle section of our Zoo & Aquarium! Here you can find amazing information and facts about Sea Turtles!
Sea Turtle
Chelonioidea
About Sea Turtles
Speed: 22 mph
Weight: 73 to 110 lbs
Lifespan: 50 - 100 years
Known for: Hiding in their shells
Closest Relative: Tortoises
Animal Type: Reptile
Habitat
Sea Turtles were first seen in Thailand and several parts of Europe. Today, sea turtles can be found in most of the world's ocean, apart from cold polar seas. You can find a lot of them in North America and South Asia, living in bodies of water ranging from small ponds and bogs to large lakes and rivers.
Diet
A Sea Turtle's diet is mainly made up of sea grass, sometimes called eel grass, fish, crabs, shrimp, seaweed, jellyfish, sea cucumbers, and corals. A Sea Turtle is an omnivore, which means it eats plants and other animals.
Population
Nearly all species of the Sea Turtle are now classified as endangered, with three of the seven existing species being critically endangered. Around 6.5 million Sea Turtles remain in the wild, today.
Sea Turtle Types
There are seven different types of Sea Turtles. They are the Leatherback, the Green Turtle, the Hawksbill, the Loggerhead, the Olive Ridley, the Kemp's Ridley, and the Flatback. Three are critically endangered.
Sea Turtle Facts!
Sea turtles have been around before the dinosaurs, and they have been in the world for more than 260 million years!
On average, only 1 in every 1,000 sea turtles make it to adulthood! Sea turtles don't have a lot of challenges to overcome while reaching adulthood, however their biggest obstacles are humans.
Sea turtles are known to migrate long distances. Some even travel across oceans! While they are making these long journeys, how do they navigate where they are? Research shows sea turtles use the Earth's magnetic field which gives them a sense of where they are in the world.
If you think 18 years is too long to become an adult, you would not want to be a sea turtle. Sea turtles have to wait 30 years until they are fully grown up!
A sea turtle's shell consists of 60 bones! This means they're always carrying 60 bones on their back!