Turtles All the Way Down   id:  12851134
Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle, weighing around 65-130kg and measuring between 1-1.2m long. They have a strong, tear-drop shape shell, called a ‘carapace’, which covers most of their body, except for their head and four flippers. Their carapace can include shades of different colours, including dark brown, green, olive, yellow and black.

Sea turtles are found in all warm and temperate waters throughout the world and migrate hundreds of miles between nesting and feeding grounds. Most sea turtles undergo long migrations, some as far as 1400 miles, between their feeding grounds and the beaches where they nest.

There are seven species of sea turtles. Six of them (the hawksbill, green, flatback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, and olive ridley turtles) have shells made up of hard scutes, while the aptly-named leatherback turtle is in the Family Dermochelyidae and has a leathery carapace made up of connective tissue. Sea turtles range in size from about 2 feet to 6 feet long, depending on the species. The Kemp's ridley turtle is the smallest, and the leatherback is the largest.

Interesting facts about Sea Turtles:

- Sea turtles are very old organisms. They live on the Earth more than 220 million years. They managed to survive weather changes which killed the dinosaurs.

- Their body is protected with upper shell called carapace.

- Unlike land turtles, sea turtles can't hide their heads and legs inside the shell. That makes them more vulnerable when they come in contact with predators.

- Sea turtles spend most of their life in the ocean. Females can be seen on the beaches only during nesting season.

- During nesting season female will return back to the same beach where she was born. She will find the right beach even after 30 years of absence.

- Turtle lays eggs in the holes in the sand. These "nests" can't be recognized easily because turtle covers them with additional layer of sand. Depending on the species, each nest contains between 60-200 eggs.

- Temperature determines the gender of the baby turtles. Female will be born if the temperature of the egg is high and male if the temperature of the egg is low.

- Young turtles hatch during night and they use moonlight to find their way to the sea. Too many lights that are coming from the beach or from a nearby road can disorient and confuse young turtles.

- Sea turtles walk slowly on the ground because their flippers are adapted for swimming and not walking. They are excellent swimmers that can travel large distances. Leatherback turtle can travel 12.000 miles from Indonesia to Oregon.

- Sea turtles don't have teeth, but their mouths are adapted to each type of food that they normally eat. Green Sea Turtle is vegetarian who eats sea grass, while other turtles eat crabs, clams, jellyfish, sea cucumbers…

- Sea turtles will grab and eat plastic bag from the water because it looks like a jellyfish. This could kill sea turtle.

- Sea turtles have lungs and breathe atmospheric air. They spend most of their time under water but they need to come to the surface of the water to grab some air.

- Size of sea turtles is specific for each species. Kemp's Ridley turtle weighs 80-100 pounds, while Leatherback turtle weighs more than 1000 pounds.

- Sea turtles can hear vibration. They have excellent eyesight and sense of smell.

- Sea turtles can live from 70-80 years.

Fun trivia:

Did you know that Crush (Finding Nemo) is portrayed “high” because Sea Turtles actually eat jellyfish and the poisons inside the jelly doesn’t actually harm the turtle but instead intoxicates them much like marijuana does for humans.

When Sea turtles cry, it is not because they are sad. They have a gland that empties into their eyes that helps them get rid of too much salt that they collect living in the salty ocean. You can only see their tears when they are out of the water on land, of course, and the tears also help keep sand out of the turtle’s eyes.

The Chinese soft-shelled turtles urinate via their mouths