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Previous Issues > August 2006 > Wildville! > Sea Turtles
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 Wildville!
Sea Turtles
Sea Turtles
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Chelonioidea
Sea turtles are turtles that live in the ocean. They are found in all the world's oceans, except the Arctic Ocean. There are seven types of sea turtles: Kemp's ridley, flatback, green, olive ridley, leatherback, loggerhead, and hawksbill. All types of sea turtles are endangered. Kidsville News! recently had the opportunity to talk with Pat Adams, a volunteer with the Caswell Beach Sea Turtle Program (operated under the NC Wildlife Resources Commission), to learn more about loggerhead turtles.
 The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) can weigh up to 500 pounds, but usually weighs around 250 pounds. When the female turtle is about 25 years old, she will return to nest on the same beach where she was born. The turtle digs a nest using the hind flippers and lays up to 120 eggs! She will then cover the nest and return to the sea. The hatchlings will emerge from the nest in about 60 days. Only 1 in 5000 will survive to adulthood. Once the eggs hatch the baby turtle has a very difficult time. When these tiny turtles, about the size of a silver dollar, hatch, and head for the sea, they are in harm's way because of birds, large fish, foxes, and crabs. The ones that make it to the sea swim out to the Gulf Stream and hide and feed in the sargasso weed.
Pat and her husband Tom are volunteers under the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. They, and many other volunteers, work to help save the loggerhead turtles. Every morning they check their area of Caswell Beach, a three-mile stretch on the east end of Oak Island, NC. They find the nest by discovering the crawl of the mama and then determine if she laid eggs. They find the eggs and mark the nest by putting a wire cage around it. This cage keeps people and animals from disturbing the nest. On about the 56th day, Adams and other volunteers set up a runway with landscape edging around the wire cage and down to near the high-tide mark. They keep this area clean and free of crab holes and debris so that when the babies come out, they will have an undisturbed walkway to the water. They have to do their crawl so they can develop their lungs and be able to swim when they reach the sea. The eggs hatch sometimes three to five days before they emerge, so when they come up from the nest, they are strong little guys ready to take on the sea. Volunteers usually sit and monitor the nest from the 56th day until the eggs hatch in order to protect them from crabs and other animals.
According to Adams, the loggerhead turtle is on the endangered list for lots of reasons. Fishing boats with long nets drown them. Trash dumped into the ocean or left on the beach to wash out to sea is swallowed by the turtles and they suffocate. Also, all kinds of boats hit them. and the propeller cuts their carapaces and causes their death. Dredges also contribute to many turtle deaths. In many parts of the world. people dig up the eggs and eat them. Turtle is also eaten all around the world. Now, in some states, there is a hefty fine for disturbing a turtle nest in any way.
Sources: Pat Adams, Caswell Beach Sea Turtle Program; North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher; Wikipedia, Sea Turtle.
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