...The endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle is found in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans (World Wildlife, 2018). Not too keen on deep water, found mostly near the coast line. Not being as large as other seat turtles they still grow up to be big to us. Known to eat sponges, sea anemones, and jellyfish (World Wildlife, 2018). Weighing in at 90-150 lbs, Length of 30-35 inches. Feeding on mostly sponges there pointed beaks to get them from tight spots (World Wildlife, 2018). Their benefit is they help maintain the health of coral reefs and seagrass beds (World Wildlife, 2018). Hawksbills Maintain the health of coral reefs. Removing sponges and providing better access for reef fish to eat (World Wildlife, 2018). Their colored and patterned shells...
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...First, I decided to do some research on the conservation status of Sea Turtles. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the global statuses are classified as followed: • Leatherbacks: Vulnerable • Greens: Endangered • Loggerheads: Endangered • Hawksbills: Critically Endangered • Olive Ridleys: Vulnerable • Kemp’s Ridleys: Critically Endangered Sea Turtles are among the list of top endangered species. Of the seven species, six are considered endangered. Among those six species are the Green Sea Turtles. Several factors have contributed to their rate of extinction. These factors include: climate change, oil spills, unmanaged coastal development, illegal trade, human consumption, and predators. According to the WorldWildlife webpage, “Incidental capture by fishing gear is the greatest threat to most sea turtles, especially endangered loggerheads, greens and leatherbacks. This threat is increasing as fishing activity expands” (wwf.org). Upon my research, I found another surprising factor that is currently contributing to sea turtle extinction. I discovered the article, “Invasive algae, pollution cause lethal tumors on sea turtles”. The lethal tumors have been most prevalent in Hawaii’s Green Sea Turtle Species. The tumors are linked to the invasive algae, “Superweed”. The algae grow along an area, where nutrient pollution is not managed regularly. When the sea turtles consume the invasive algae, the amino acids from the algae stimulate...
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...Sea turtles are fascinating sea creatures that use the Earth’s magnetic field to migrate and navigate the Earth. Turtles breathe air and are classified as reptiles, they have been on Earth for millions of years. Sea turtles also classified as marine turtles have seven different sub-species they're known as Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Flatback, Leatherback, Green turtle, Kemp’s Ridley and Flatback. Turtles live in practically every ocean all over the world, they don’t have a specific habitat where they're located. Turtles are born on beaches and make their way to the sea, they spend most of their lives at sea. The female turtles after mating at sea return to the same beach they were born on to lay her eggs. Female turtles can mate in maturity...
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...Salvador due to the lack of detail about both reptiles and San Salvador.) There are many kind of reptiles live in San Salvador or the larger Bahamas Area. The three major groups are the Lizards/Iguanas, Snakes and the Turtles. Lizards native to The Bahamas including Bahamian Rock Iguanas, Curly-tailed Lizards, Blue-tailed Lizards, Anoles, Geckos. Snakes including Bahamian boas, Brown racer, Pygmy boa, Blind snakes and Thread snakes. Turtles including a wide variety of marine turtles and freshwater turtles. Here are some examples of the reptiles. San Salvador iguana/Cyclura rileyi San Salvador iguana live in the island of San Salvador, Acklins and Exuma. The length is about millimeter and weight about 1.25 kilogram. Male are generally bigger than female and male has leg hole to release pheromones and hormones. 95% of their food are vegetables, flowers, leaves. The other 5% are eggs or dead crabs and bugs. Male San Salvador iguana are extremely territorial and would fight very hard over territory. Northern Bahamian rock iguana/Cyclura cychlura Cyclura cychluras are large in size. The total length could reach 150 centimeter for male ones. As the name suggests, it live in the north islands of the Bahamas. Majorly in the bushes and low forests near the sea. It mostly eat flowers, fruits and leaves, sometimes the body or bugs and crabs. The life span could reach 40 years. They lay eggs between May and July. Each time 4 to 19 eggs. It takes around 75 days for the eggs to hatch...
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...Sea turtles Introduction: Sea turtles have been around for a very long time and are one of the earth's most ancient creatures since the time of dinosaurs which goes back to many millions of years. In general, the estimate for the lifespan of sea turtles is 70-80 years. There are seven species of sea turtles in two families. The family Cheloniidae includes six hard shell turtles: flatback sea turtle (Natator depressus), green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate), Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). The seventh species of leathery skin turtle, leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) belongs to the...
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...The turtle is known to be a slow creature but a survivor. The slow but sure physiology of the animal is reflected in the slow but constant evolution of the turtle’s brain over the last 210 million years. Scientists compared the brain of the Proganochelys, the oldest turtle with a real shell, and modern turtles by using computed tomography scanning on two fossil skulls. Very simple brain structure Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager, the lead author from the University of Birmingham’s School of Geography, Earth and Environment, said that the results of the scan showed the animal had a very simple brain structure. The turtle’s vision and hearing were likely not very good, while its sense of smell was developed moderately. Over the course of its evolution,...
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...The biology of the sea turtle and facors affecting its population Upon first sight of the great sea turtle it might just think that it is like any other turtle. The truth is that marine turtles are beautiful creatures spending a majority of their lives wandering endlessly through our massive ocean. These reptiles have the ability to do amazing things. Some of these things include evolving to a range of purely innate responses to the demands of a changing suite of environments and having remarkable navigations skills for their excursions that may last up to several years. Sea turtles have been in existence for more than 100 million years and researchers have been studying them for great deal of time. During the past 20 years however, the natural history of marine turtles has received growing attention and much has been learned (Bjorndal 19). Instantly you will fall in love with their beauty and majestic way of life. The biology behind these amazing animals causes them stand out from much of the ocean life. There are seven different species of sea turtles. These species include Kemps Ridley, Flatback, Loggerhead, Olive Ridley, Leatherback, Hawksbill, and the Hawaiian Green Turtle (Gardner 2004). Unlike many animals the female sea turtle is generally larger than the males. The main distinction between the two is that the male tends to have a longer tail. The core part of the sea turtle and the part that helps protect them from predators is the shell. The shell grows around the...
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...Organisms found in the Everglades Plants The Everglades is home to a wide diversity of plants. The two million acre wetland ecosystem is inhibited by wetland plants that include sawgrass, bladderwort, cypress, mangrove trees, and others that serve as primary food sources and shelters for many consumers of this habitat (National Wildlife Federation, 2012). Animals The Everglades is home to numerous species of animals including those native to the lands, threatened, and considered endangered. Wildlife populaces include over 350 bird species including the Great Blue heron, great egret, and wood stork. Land dwellers that inhibit the Everglades include Alligator and crocodile reptiles, Florida panther, Burmese python, West-Indian Manatee, sea turtles, and raccoon just to name a few. The Everglades most endangered animal is the Florida panther, of which approximately only 80 now survive (National Wildlife Federation, 2012). Organisms in the Everglades Producers Consumers Decomposers Monocotyledons Manatee Bacteria Saw grass Alligator Gar Fungi Pond apple tree...
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...maintain the health of ecosystems while human activity is able to have adverse impacts on both organisms and ecosystems. Sea turtle also plays key role in the sea ecosystem. This essay will indicate the important roles of sea turtles on two sea ecosystem, beaches and marine systems, and negative effects of human activity on the turtle and sea ecosystem. Sea turtles have played vital roles in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years. According to Ruckdeschel and Shoop (2006, p.2), there are seven species of sea turtles in the world’s oceans, including flatback, green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhea and olive ridley. The roles of those species consist of maintaining healthy seagrass beds and coralreefs, providing habitat for other marine life, helping to balance marine food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling from water to land. To more specific, there is an influence of sea turtles on seagrass beds. Sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, is an animal eating seagrass. This action of the turtles assist in maintaining the health of the sea grass beds because sea grass needs to be constantly cut short to be healthy and help it grow across the sea floor. Wilson, Miller, Allison & Magliocca. (n.d.). Sea turtles also bring some benefits to Beach Dunes. Sea Turtle Conservancy (2014) has claimed that turtle eggs provide dune plants with the nutrients, which makes dune planes grow up and become stronger. These vital nutrients...
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...will find the Green Turtle living where ever they can find tropical or cool water. The Green Turtle will live out in the ocean. They will come on shore to the sandy beaches where they will dig holes in which to lay their eggs. The Green Turtle is 80 to 100cm long and weighs 70 to 230kg. The Green Turtle is not green as their name suggests. Their fat is green. The Green Turtle does not eat meat like most turtles They prefer to eat seaweed. The Baby Green Turtles will however eat crabs and jellyfish. The Green Turtles numbers are dropping all over the world There are many caught for food. Their eggs are also taken. They are losing some of their sandy beaches, so they have fewer places to lay their eggs. They are now endangered. The snake-necked turtle is found in...
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...The green turtle is one of the largest sea turtles and the only herbivore among the different species. Green turtles are in fact named for the greenish color of their cartilage and fat, not their shells. In the Eastern Pacific, a group of green turtles that have darker shells are called black turtles by the local community. Green turtles are found mainly in tropical and subtropical waters. Like other sea turtles, they migrate long distances between feeding grounds and the beaches from where they hatched. Classified as endangered, green turtles are threatened by overharvesting of their eggs, hunting of adults, being caught in fishing gear and loss of nesting beach sites. Body Temperature- All reptiles are ectotherms. They are cold blooded and their bodies cannot create heat, so they must get it from another source, the sun. Body Covering- have a body covering of scaly skin. All reptiles have scaly skin. This tough, scaly skin is called scute or osteoderms Habitat-They both live in Land and Water How they Reproduce-The reproduction process of sea turtles is important as it is what keeps the various species alive. The age for maturity significantly varies from one species to the next. For some, it is when they are 3-5 years of age. For others though it is as late as 20-50 years of age. It will depend on the type of sea turtle species you are talking about. The mating process takes place in the water so there isn’t too much known about it. This has been confirmed due...
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...Rising Temperatures Put Sea Turtles at Risk Sea turtles are said to be one of Earth’s most ancient creatures and the seven species that can be found today have been around for roughly 110 million years, which dates back to when dinosaurs ruled the planet. Their unique shell allows for easy movement through the water and unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head into their shells (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Depending on the species of sea turtle, their diet tends to consist of smaller sea life such as jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails and algae. It is also interesting to note that green sea turtles can stay under water for as long as five hours even though the length of a feeding is usually five minutes or less. Their heart rate slows to conserve oxygen and nine minutes may elapse between heartbeats (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). It is often quite difficult to gauge the total population count for sea turtles because both male and juvenile sea turtles do not return to shore once they hatch and reach the ocean, which makes it extremely difficult to keep track of numbers (“Sea Turtle Migration”, 2013). Most of the behavioral information that has been gathered on sea turtles is based off of females and their hatchlings. When females come to shore to lay their eggs they dig out a hole, bury their clutch of eggs and then return to the ocean. The eggs are left unattended to hatch and make their way back to the ocean, which is where...
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...Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) The Green sea turtle is around four hundred and forty and a maximum size of four feet, it has a small head, a heart shaped shell, small shaped head, color varies, and have single clawed flippers. The Green sea turtle is found on the coast of California, Florida, and the east coast, those are the american coasts they live on other than that they live along the coast of many different countries. This species is named for the green color of its fat, instead of the color of the shell or skin. Like most turtles the Green sea turtles migrate long distances between hunting grounds, The turtles that reach maturity normally live up to eighty years in the wild. Although The Green sea turtle has...
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...Hey there do you know anything about leatherback sea turtle? They are very cool animals. Let’s get started. Overall Leatherbacks are sea turtles and the only turtle with no shell. Also, the leatherback sea turtle is the heaviest turtle out there. It can weigh up to 2,000 lb. and grow up to 11 ft. They can swim up to 5km to 8km. Although, they can swim fast, they cannot swim backwards. This is why many of them get caught in fishing nets. Turtles breath oxygen, but they spend most of their time in water. There main adaptations are there flippers, shell, and jaw. Food Leatherback's eat mainly jellyfish because they don't have teeth. Eating hard animals could break their jaw. Also, they are immune to jellyfish's sting which means they eat jellyfish. They also eat small crustaceans too. They are mainly predators unless there is a tiger shark in the area. The relationship would be leatherbacks to jellyfish. If there is a tiger shark it would be tiger shark to leatherback. Their food chain would go from seaweed (producers), small fish (primary consumer), jelly fish (secondary consumer), leatherback sea turtle (territory consumers) and hermit crab (decomposer). There are no...
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...the sense of the Congress taken from the 106th congress 1st session. Is this any better than what early frontiersmen did? Skinning the buffalo and just leaving the skinned carcass to rot and be wasted? Hundreds of millions of sharks are killed each year only for their fins. Not using the rest of the shark carcass to its fullest potential is unsportsmanlike and wasteful. Shark fin soup, shark fin stew, these are delicacies. They are not a necessity to live and yet the demand is high. They are eaten primarily for the taste of the dish. Must we wait till they become and endangered species before we do something about it? The green sea turtles were killed for their shells and flesh nearly to extinction before we even started to try to stop the killing. Foods like this are not necessarily bad, but we must do it in moderation. Don’t have another green sea turtle event. If there is something good, do you use it up till it’s all gone? Once it’s gone no one will be able to use that good thing again. In this case it’s shark fining. Will we fin them until there is no more? Future generations will neither see the sharks nor taste dishes like this again. Maybe if we use more of the shark’s body and kill less then we will be able to have the best of both worlds. SHARK FINNING 2 We do not necessarily have to stop killing the sharks altogether, but if we keep on...
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