Sea Turtles Essay

616 Words3 Pages
NATURAL PREDATORS | | 1. | Adult sea turtles have a few predators, mostly large sharks. Tiger sharks, in particular, are known for eating sea turtles. Killer whales have been known to prey on leatherback turtles. | | | 2. | Fishes, dogs, seabirds, raccoons, ghost crabs, and other predators prey on eggs and hatchlings. More than 90% of hatchlings are eaten by predators. | | NATURAL DISASTERS | | 1. | Hurricanes can severely impact sea turtle nesting success. Almost 90% of sea turtle nesting in the continental U.S. occurs on Florida's beaches. Scientists estimate that more than half of the sea turtle nests on the coast of Florida were washed away by the four hurricanes hitting the coast in 2004. | | | | During a severe cold snap in 1989, dozens of hypothermic green sea turtles were rescued and cared for in recovery pools at SeaWorld Orlando for about 10 weeks. | | | | | RETURN TO TOP | | | HUMAN IMPACT | | 1. | Sea turtle nesting areas are becoming scarce due to beach development and disturbances. Kemp's ridleys mainly nest on a remote beach in Mexico near the village of Rancho Nuevo (about 161 km, or 100 miles, south of the Texas border). In 1947, scientists witnessed an arribada of more than 42,000 Kemp's ridley turtles in one day. In the 1960s numbers were reduced to less than 5,000 turtles. In 1973, the largest arribada contained only 200 individuals. More recently, a small but growing number of Kemp's ridleys have nested on some beaches along the coast of Texas. | | | 2. | Nesting females and hatchlings are disturbed by the presence of trash on nesting beaches. If trash impedes its crawl up the beach, a female returns to the sea instead of nesting. | | | 3. | The noise and activity of people on the beach also may cause females to return to the sea instead of nesting. | | | 4. |

More about Sea Turtles Essay

Open Document