Notes from Papaw: Sea Turtles

Have you ever been to “Turtle Talk with Crush” at California Adventure or seen the movie Finding Nemo? Crush is a sea turtle. All turtles are reptiles. Reptiles always go to land to lay their eggs, even if they live in the water. In fact, whereas a female sea turtle will climb out on the sand once a year to lay their eggs, the males never leave the ocean their whole life. They still breathe air but they eat, sleep, and live in the ocean.

There are seven types of sea turtles in the world. The largest is the Leatherback turtle. Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the smallest. Disney's Crush is a Flatback sea turtle. They live in the waters around Australia. My favorite sea turtles are the ones found in the Pacific Ocean, especially around the Hawaiian Islands. They are called Green sea turtles. They are plant eaters and especially love to eat sea grass. Many sea turtles like to eat jellies often called jelly fish. (We don’t call them jelly fish anymore because they are not fish. The same goes with starfish. They are now called sea stars.) Other turtles may eat crabs, shrimp, sea cucumbers, or even reef sponges. Sea turtles can live for a long time. Most can live to be 80 years old. Some can even live to be 100!

Here is a picture of the seven kinds of sea turtles. Boy, that Leatherback turtle looks big!