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Sea turtles are fascinating creatures with great determination and instincts. Learn more about the solitary and challenging life of a sea turtle to appreciate these reptiles and understand how to help protect them.

General Information

While each species of sea turtle looks a little different in color and size, there are things they all have in common.

Sea turtles have been on earth so long, they lived during the time of the dinosaurs.

There are seven species of sea turtle: flatback, green, loggerhead, hawksbill, leatherback, olive ridley and Kemp's ridley.

An adult sea turtle can be two to six feet long, depending on the species.

The largest sea turtle ever seen weighed over 2,000 pounds.

The smallest adults weigh around 60 pounds.

Unlike land turtles, sea turtles can't tuck their head or flippers into their shell.

Sea turtles have claws.

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Habitat

Each kind of sea turtle has a specific geographic area where they nest, breed and live.

Sea turtles like warmer, tropical waters.

Adult sea turtles spend most of their lives in shallow waters, only going on beaches to lay eggs.

When sea turtles look for food or a mate they can travel thousands of miles through the sea.

Most sea turtles live their whole life alone, only interacting with others when it's time to mate.

Baby sea turtles sleep floating on the surface of the water with their fins behind their back.

Adult sea turtles can sleep on the bottom of the ocean by wedging themselves under rock ledges.

To create a nest for eggs, females dig a pit in the sand using their flippers and body.

Diet

Each species of sea turtle lives in a particular area and eats a diet based on their unique physical makeup.

Baby sea turtles are predators who eat fish eggs, mollusks and jellyfish.

The teeth of a green sea turtle look like the edges of a saw to help them rip seagrasses.

Green sea turtles are the only species where adults are herbivores.

Kemp's ridley and loggerhead sea turtles are carnivores who eat mostly crabs.

The hawksbill sea turtle's sharp beak allows it to eat mostly sea sponges because it can reach into coral reefs.

Jellyfish are the main source of food for flatback, leatherback and olive ridley sea turtles.

Life Cycle

The sea turtle life cycle explains why there are so few sea turtles. Watch the perilous journey of baby sea turtles from their nest to the ocean in this education video.

Each female lays 50 to 200 eggs in one nest.

After laying eggs a female sea turtle feeds for up to a year to get her energy back.

Baby sea turtles dig their way out of the nest and rush to the water at night.

Females lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born.

Sea turtles can lay one group of eggs every 10 days up to seven times during nesting season.

Feeding, breeding and nesting are not done in the same locations. Sea turtles travel hundreds or thousands of miles between each location.

Conservation

Six species of sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered because of threats like pollution, habitat loss and poaching, most of which are caused by humans.

Hawksbills and Kemp's Ridleys are considered critically endangered, which is the highest threat level.

Sea turtles help the environment by keeping seagrasses under control and contributing nutrients to the sand when eggshells are left behind in nests.

Only about one percent of baby sea turtles survive to the age where they can breed.

Sea turtle eggs are used in traditional folk medicine practices in Asia and South America.

While human interaction can be harmful, people volunteering with professional organizations to help baby sea turtles hatch and reach the ocean is beneficial for these reptiles.

Multimedia Resources

If you want to learn more about sea turtles and how to help them escape extinction look for movies, books, games and volunteer opportunities near you or on your next vacation.

Movies

Animated films with interwoven facts are great at keeping younger kids' attention and providing an educational experience to remember. Older kids will appreciate the realistic images and stories presented in documentary films.

Turtle: The Incredible Journey is a documentary film about the journey from birth to breeding for one loggerhead sea turtle.

The fictional film Finding Nemo features tons of sea creatures including scenes riding the Gulf Stream with a sea turtle named Crush and his son, Squirt. Although the story is made up, the film uses factual information about sea creatures.

A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures follows the animated journey of a sea turtle from birth including real information about the life cycle of a sea turtle.

Books

The best way to find out everything you can about a particular animal is to read as many kinds of books as possible. Each book offers a unique angle on sea turtle life.

I'll Follow the Moon, by Stephanie Lisa Tara, is a children's picture book based on the real journey of baby sea turtles. This fictional story follows a baby sea turtle as it uses instincts to find its mom.

Learn about the life cycle of loggerhead sea turtles in One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies. This story uses lyrical language to tell a nonfiction story.

National Geographic sells a full-color nonfiction book called Sea Turtles by Laura Marsh. Get an up-close look at the life, habitat and physical attributes of these interesting reptiles.

Games and Activities

Show off your love of sea turtles with fun activities and crafts you can hang around the house. Better yet, become a citizen scientist and get involved with keeping these creatures protected!

Find printable coloring pages, craft ideas, worksheets and more at ThoughtCo.

The Sea Turtle Conservancy offers a variety of online games and puzzles like the Turtle Adventure Game where kids use the space bar and arrow keys to move a baby turtle through hazards.

Download the TURT app if you're near where sea turtles live and become a citizen scientist who observes sea turtles and shares information with real researchers.

Saving Sea Turtles

Your knowledge of sea turtles and their importance in the world can help save a species. When you understand what is important to the livelihood of a sea turtle you can find ways to get involved or help others appreciate these animals.

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Sea turtles are fascinating creatures with great determination and instincts. Learn more about the solitary and challenging life of a sea turtle to ...

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Sea Turtle Nesting

Sea turtles around the world nest on beaches in warmer places (tropical and sub-tropical beaches.) The female goes ashore, digs a body pit then and a nest (or egg chamber), lays the eggs, and finally covers up the nest. After that, they will camouflage the nest, covering a big area with sand, to hide the nest, and then head to the water. About six or seven weeks later, the hatchlings will emerge and then head to the water.

"The Lost Years"

From the time the hatchlings take their first swim until they return to coastal waters to forage as juveniles may be as long as a decade. This period of time is often referred to as the "lost years" since following sea turtles movements during this phase is difficult and their whereabouts are often unknown.

Following the "lost years", when they have grown to approximately the size of a dinner plate, their pelagic (open ocean) phase comes to an end and they return to coastal waters where they forage and continue to mature. During this time, these reptiles are highly mobile, foraging over large areas of ocean.

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Life Cycle of Sea Turtles - SEE Turtles - SEE Turtles

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Learn about the life cycle of sea turtles, including nesting, hatching, juveniles, adults, and migration.

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Illustration Of Dolphin Vocabulary Part Of Body Stock Vector - Illustration of anatomy, design: 73214710

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Illustration about Illustration of dolphin vocabulary part of body vector. Illustration of anatomy, design, pupil - 73214710

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Tracking Green Turtles in the Great Barrier Reef | Fearless Adventures with Jack Randall

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Answer:

The food that dolphins eat is different for each species.
While some dolphins eat fishes like herring, cod or mackerel, some others eat squids or other cephalopods.

Even more, large dolphins like killer whales, eat marine mammals like seals or sea lions and sometimes even turtles.

Usually, the amount of fish that they eat depends on the kind of fish that they hunt. While mackerels or herrings have a lot of fat, squids do not have much fat, therefore, to get the energy required for their activities, dolphins have to eat more of the latter.

On average, a dolphin with a weight of 200 - 250 Kg will eat between 10 Kg to 25 Kg of fish every day.

Usually, to hunt fish, some species of dolphins use a method called herding which is a cooperative hunting performed by a pod where some of them surround a school of fish to compress them as much as possible, while some others take turns to eat through the compacted school of fish.

Another method is corralling where dolphins take fish to shallow waters where they cannot escape.

Some species catch larger fish by hitting them with their tails to stun them and in the case of killer whales, they

Therefore the question about what do dolphins eat has to be answered for every species in particular.

In this video, you can watch a pod of dolphins working together to feed themselves and using the technique called herding to catch the fish as they surround the school of fish, and then some of them take turns to eat.
In the video, you can learn more about What do dolphins eat.

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The food that dolphins eat is different for each species. While some dolphins eat fishes like herring, cod or mackerel, some others eat squids or other cephalopods. Even more, large dolphins like killer whales, eat marine mammals like seals or sea lions and sometimes even turtles.

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Here are some of the most absorbing dolphin facts for kids including its diet, species, reproduction and where does it live. Dolphins are the close relatives of whales and propoises. There is a significant difference in sizes of several dolphin species. They belong to the family of Delphinidae. Biologists maintain that some of the species believed to have been evolved some 10 million years ago.

Dolphin Facts For Kids

The weight of the dolphins ranges from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) and goes up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons).

These animals inhabits in the shallower waters.

Dolphins are by far one of the most intelligent animals on the planet earth.

They are the most sociable marine animals in that they avidly respond to humans while kept in captivity.

The population of dolphins deems to be greater in places where the food is abundant. Groups may comprise thousands of animals.

Though occasionally, dolphins are also found to be engaged in the acts of aggression. This is observed particularly in males as compared to females.

Dolphins produce several sounds including whistling and burst-pulsed sounds. By producing whistling sounds these animals tend to communicate with each other.

Dolphins are the acrobatic animals. While playing they usually jump over the water surface. It seems as if they are playing however, biologists aren't still sure about this attitude.

These species are known to asleep with one brain hemisphere in slow-wave sleep thus vigilant about the potential predators all the time. However, under captivity dolphins are found to asleep completely because there is no risk of other predators. The sleeping time of dolphins lasts for only 4 - 5 minutes.
There are about five different kinds of dolphin species.

The largest dolphin is known as 'Killer Whale' or 'Orca'.

These species have the ability to swim 260 metres beneath the water surface.
They are warm-blooded animals.

Feeding Ecology and Diet

Dolphins predominantly feed on small fish and squid. Some of the species (Bottlenose Dolphins) have a quite unique way of hunting in that they beat their tail at the surface and start circling around.

Large number of small fishes tends to be trapped inside the circle.

Read More: Distribution and Habitat What Do Dolphins Eat? Threats

Dolphins inhabit almost all the major waters of the world but they usually avoid living in extreme cold waters such as North and South Poles; however, a few types such as orcas, do live there.

Some species including Hector's dolphins fancy living in shallow waters nearer to the shore. Spinner dolphins are generally found in the middle of the ocean.

They cannot breathe into the water and they must show themselves to the surface for air. Nevertheless, dolphins would not dive more than 200 meters into the ocean.

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins are generally found in the waters of the Sundarbans mangrove. Amazon River dolphins usually dwell in the Bita River in Columbia.

While Hector's dolphins live in New Zealand, bottlenose dolphins are the residents to the west and south Scotland. Of all dolphins, four species resides only in river waters; Amazon River dolphin or boto; the Indus dolphin, baiji or Chinese river dolphin; and the Ganges dolphin.

Dolphins fancy feeding in habitats where prey densities are high and the water quality is good. Irrawaddy dolphins are believed to be declining as they are limited to estuarine and near-shore habitats. They have become disappeared from most of the major habitats of the world.

Two native dolphins inhabiting South America-tucuxi and boto-remain abundant and widespread, but the excessive human intervention continues to thwart dolphin's habitats.

Reproductive Biology

There are a few predators of dolphins apart from humans. Some of the potential predators include dusky shark, tiger shark, great white shark, and bull shark.

Killer whale is another noteworthy predator that occasionally hunts dolphins. As for the diseases, these animals are too much susceptible and are often found to be infected with parasites.

Dolphin facts about its threats states that the population of these animals is overwhelmingly affected by the human hunting in some river waters.

Some of these waters are Ganges, Yangtze River, and Amazon. Waste materials such as plastics, agricultural pollutants and other hazardous stuff result in several health problems of dolphins.

These things are often left in water when there is a collision of boats. Similarly, oil spilling also leaves an overwhelming negative effect on the dolphins' health.

The period of gestation lasts for 11 - 12 months approximately. However, for some species it can go up to 17 months.

Females give birth to a single calf under normal conditions.

The mother will nurse its calf for about 11 months to 2 years.

These calves stay with their mothers for about 3 - 8 years.

Different Types of Dolphins

Long-Beaked Common Dolphin

Short-Beaked Common Dolphin

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Burrunan Dolphin

Southern Rightwhale Dolphin

Northern Rightwhale Dolphin

Atlantic Spotted Dolphin

Chinese White Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Clymene Dolphin

Risso's Dolphin

Fraser's Dolphin

Hector's Dolphin

Hourglass Dolphin

Heaviside's Dolphin

Commerson's Dolphin

Chilean Dolphin

Rough-Toothed Dolphin

Peale's Dolphin

Melon-headed Dolphin

Pygmy Killer Whale

Ganges River Dolphin

Indus River Dolphin

Dolphin Facts For Kids | Videos

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Dolphin Facts For Kids | Dolphin Habitat & Diet

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Here are some of the most absorbing dolphin facts for kids including its diet, species, reproduction and where does it live. Dolphins are the close relatives of whales and propoises. There is a significant difference in sizes of several dolphin species. They belong to the family of Delphinidae.

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All About Dolphins for Kids: Dolphins for Children - FreeSchool