All About Hatchlings

When female sea turtles lay their eggs, she has up to 100 eggs, but a lot don’t make it.

First of all when eggs hatch they all follow the moon reflecting on the ocean. Sometimes, they mistake beach house lights for the moon. Sometimes the turtles get stuck in trash like bags and towels on the beach and die. Also, hatchlings can be eaten by raccoons and sea gulls on their way to the water. And when some make it to the water, sharks and orcas eat them too. About one out of a 100 make it to adulthood, but that’s how God designed the turtles so that they wouldn’t over populate.

So, if you are vacationing or live at the beach, turn off your lights right as you go to bed, so turtles don’t mistake your lights for the moon. Make sure you take your trash with you. If you find a turtle nest, report it to the authorities so they can keep it safe by marking with caution tape. This will help sea turtles get a better start. 

Why Save The Turtles?

Life is a big life cycle that God planned. We all depend on each other in that cycle. If something dies, the animal that eats it will die, then the animal that eats that animal will die, etc. If sea turtles went extinct the cycle will start to change for the worse.

Green sea turtles love to eat sea grass. They’re like lawn mowers of the sea! Sea grass is like out-of water grass, and it needs to be cut to be healthy. Sea turtles are the primary eaters of sea grass. Sea grass beds need to be healthy because they are breeding grounds for some underwater animals. If turtles don’t eat the grass, the grass would grow into long grass blades and will be too thick for other smaller animals to use which means that animal now becomes endangered because it can’t reproduce. Then the animals that eat those fish will die out because their food supply is gone, so on and so on. And that may one day mean you won't be having tuna for dinner!

Sea turtles eat jellyfish, right? Well, if sea turtles died, jellyfish would over populate. It’s all part of a cycle. When jellyfish overpopulate more people off the coast will possibly get stung and might even die from deadly stings. Also, jellyfish blooms have been known to clog up water supplies to nuclear reactor coolers and shut down the reactors.

As much as I hate to admit it, sea turtles are on some animals’ menus too. Their best customers are sharks, orca whales, raccoons, alligators, and sea gulls (when they are babies). When there are no turtles to eat, bye-bye customers. They have to go looking for another hot-dog stand, which means those animals are eaten more than nature is supposed to and endangerment is right around the corner.

So, you see, turtles are important. They are part of the everyday life cycle. And that cycle is very important to me and you and our earth!

WARNING: COOL FACT AHEAD

Did you know if you take a 400 pound jellyfish and squeeze all the water out of it, the jellyfish would weigh only 20 pounds??!!

Eight Turtles Of The Sea

There are eight species of the sea: loggerhead sea turtles, Green sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles, Australian flat backs, Olive ridley, Kemps ridley, black sea turtles, and the hawksbill sea turtle.

The loggerhead sea turtles can be found on the shore of SC. Loggerhead sea turtles got their name because of the block-like head they have. Their heads can grow ten inches wide!

Green sea turtles’ shells are not really green! The name comes from their body fat, yuck! They can grow to be four feet and can weigh up to 500 pounds! Although they are endangered you can find green sea turtles on the Flordia coast!

Leatherback sea turtles are the biggest sea turtles. Leatherbacks can weigh up to be 2,000 pounds and reach lengths to nine feet! They are called leatherbacks because instead of shells they’re carapace(the shell) on their backs is tough, like leather!

Australian flat backs are not bigger than the leatherback, but they’re mid-sized.  They can weigh up to 200 pounds! They feast on sea cucumbers, jellyfish, and invertebrates, which are animals without a back bone.  

Hawksbill sea turtles are only two feet smaller than an Australian flatback. They mostly weigh 150 pounds. Hawksbills get their name because their beaks are sharp like a hawks bill, and they can get their beaks in tiny spaces like hawks!

The smallest sea turtles are the olive ridley, and the kemps ridley. Olive ridleys

are really olive green. Cool, right! Kemps ridley are known as the most endangered sea turtles.

This is a picture of me with Palmer, a loggerhead sea turtle at the SC Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

This link has an ID chart that shows up close how to identify the sea turtles we talked about today
Sea Turtle ID

This link has awesome pics of sea turtles!
National Geographic Pictures of Sea Turtles

My Purpose

Hi! My name is Hailey. I'm ten years old. My favorite sea animal is the sea turtle, so after we learned about them in science, my mom took me to the Charleston Aquarium to see the Sea Turtle Rescue Center. I fell in love with the turtles. I learned that when we pollute the water, turtles get hurt. The staff at the rescue center take in sea turtles that are ill or injured, and take care of them until they are better. When they are well, the staff releases them back into the ocean.
Unfortunately, the center doesn't have a lot of funding. Most of the money they have to use comes from schools and other organizations that donate to them. When we left the rescue center, my mom and I started to talk about a website that could help sea turtles and other turtles.  I came up with several ways to inform you about the sea turtle and the rescue center at the Charleston Aquarium. First, I began this blog to talk about saving turtles and other wildlife. Also, I hope to raise money for the turtles at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center by fund raisers and donations.
I hope you could help me save the turtles and all wildlife creatures by reading my blog and learning with me!  I will let you know as soon as my mom sets up a non-profit account so that you can make donations if you wish! ALL money will go directly to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center.
Thanks for reading Turtle-y Terrific's first post!