3 Ginger Snaps

Things we have learned about turtles so far:

• Sea turtles are becoming extinct
• There are 8 different kinds of sea turtles
• All the eggs in the nest hatch at the same time
• A female turtle has to be about 20 years old before she can lay eggs
• Turtles cannot breathe underwater
• Only 80% of the eggs hatch
• 50% of those hatchlings make it to the water
• 2% of the hatchlings that survive after human impact make it to adulthood. Otherwise, 10% would make it to adulthood
• Things that affect turtle survival and health are: pollution, garbage in the ocean, oil spills, egg poaching, plastic bags in the water that look like jellyfish (the turtles eat them and choke), habitat loss from beach development, fishing – turtles get caught in fishing nets and drown
• It takes about 2 months for turtle eggs to hatch
• The nests are on the beach
• The mom digs a hole with her flippers, she lays the eggs in the hole, she covers the hole with sand and camouflages it
• Blind turtles cannot survive in the wild
• A female turtle can only lay eggs every 2 years
• Hatchlings swim for 3 to 7 days without eating or stopping, then they find sea grass to live in and eat anything they can until they are big enough to survive without anything wanting to eat them
• Some of the turtle’s predators are: crabs, sharks, birds, killer whales, human, dolphins, lizards who eat the eggs on the beach
• Turtles return to about the same part of the world that they hatched from to lay their eggs