Sea Turtles
by David & Daryl

Sea turtles are amazing animals. In this report, we’ll talk about the amount of eggs they lay, how they survive all of the dangers, and how many species there are.

The Leatherback is the biggest sea turtle in the world. It can grow to be over 6 feet long and get up to 1,400 pounds! The leatherback doesn’t have a hard shell, but it has a rubbery skin to protect it.

The Loggerhead sea turtle is the most commonly seen in Florida. Over 50,000 nests are found yearly there. The Loggerhead got its name for its large head.

The Kemp Ridley sea turtle is the most endangered sea turtle in the world. They are the smallest of the sea turtles.

The Olive Ridley sea turtle grows up to 2 to 2.5 feet and they come here to Costa Rica to lay their eggs.

A female sea turtle walks up on the beach, finds a place that looks safe and digs a body pit with her front flippers. Then she digs an egg hole with her rear flippers in the body pit. After all that she starts laying her eggs. She can lay up to 200 eggs in one “clutch”. A clutch is the name for a group of turtle eggs. Then she covers the hole. There are three reasons why she covers the eggs. One, to keep them safe from predators, two, to keep them warm (if it gets below 55 degrees Fahrenheit they will die), and three, to keep them moist.

In the egg they face the danger of humans digging them up and eating them, but they also have dangers when they hatch after up to 50 days in the egg. Once they hatch, they start a dangerous walk to the ocean. On the way to the water birds will try to eat them, and in the ocean sharks and other predators will try and eat them. Overall about 3% will survive the trip.

Sea turtles are fascinating to watch. You can go to youtube.com and watch videos about them. I hope that you enjoyed it!