Sea Turtles - Nomads of the Sea

Okay. The first big question is: What is a Sea Turtle?

From a purely biological point of view, there are 3 reptiles that have the thing called a shell, or better term, carapace, which causes folks to lump them under the general term, "TURTLES".

However, 

TORTOISES

--If the animal lives primarily on dry land, has a high-arched carapace, and has almost elephant-like legs and toes, it's really considered and called a TORTOISE. Tortoises are primarily vegetarians--they like to eat green, leafy plants and generally live in desert-like conditions. Tortoises tend to be long-living and slow-moving on either dry land or when they get a rare chance to get in the water. The Galapagos tortoises and the American Southwest tortoises are some of the better-known tortoises of the world. You also have many that live in forested areas, but you won't see them very often.

TERRAPINS

--If the animal is more streamlined and has a low-arched carapace--but has toes with claws on webbed feet, it's a TERRAPIN. Terrapins live mostly in and around water, mud, and swamps. Terrapins are omnivores--yeah, they'll eat plants, but they also love to go after fish, birds, lizards, and bugs. Terrapins are relatively fast runners on land and fast swimmers. The members of the Terrapins that we may have heard of are the "red-eared sliders", the "snapping turtles", and the "diamond-back turtles" (all of these are *really* terrapins).

TURTLES

 --and then you have the SEA TURTLES. There are 5 major species--the green turtle, the hawksbill turtle, the Ridley turtle, the loggerhead turtle, and the leatherback turtle. The green turtles have mostly been hunted for food in many of the island cultures. Hawksbill turtles are prized for their beautiful carapace--which is sometimes used by island cultures to make jewelry. The Ridley and loggerhead turtles are also eaten for food in some island/oceanic cultures. The leatherback turtles are the largest of the group--and they are also prized as food by the island/oceanic cultures.  All real TURTLES have FINS. Their front fins have no visible toes (their skeleton has them, though)--although the males do have a longer thumb-claw that extends beyond the fin. 

Sea turtles like to eat seagrass, algae, seaweed--but they also like to eat jellyfish, small fish, octopus, and squids. Other than humans, sharks and large fish are their major enemies--especially when they are young. Other hazards for turtles are the garbage humans dump into the ocean (sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish--and then choke or fatally block their digestive systems with the garbage)--and fishing nets, in which the turtles get tangled and then subsequently drown because they can't surface for air. Global warming and climate change may also cause some problems for sea turtles, but at the moment it doesn't seem like a rising sea level would cause sea turtles any extra problems.

Otherwise, the most vulnerable point in a sea turtle's life (most likely with their cousins the tortoises and terrapins as well), is when they are just hatched and trying to make their way from their nest to the relative safety of their eventual habitat.  With sea turtles, the route from the sandy beach (where their eggs are laid) to the ocean is treacherous--with birds, crabs, cats, dogs, pigs, and other animals snatching them up and eating them en masse. Then, once they get into the shallow waters, barracuda, sharks, sea bass, octopus, squid, and other predators are also waiting for them.  It's only after they find shelter among the floating clumps of kelp or other seaweed that the baby sea turtles gain a small amount of protection.

The sea turtles are amazing animals. Except for when they are nesting, they spend their entire life in the open ocean. They are the most vulnerable when they are on land to nest, when they are still in their eggs, and after they have just hatched.

It would take a whole book to describe just the fascinating information on Sea Turtles. But I hope that this brief introduction has helped with understanding a bit more about these gentle and interesting creatures.