I’m bored and I can’t do my assignments. But I want to tell you guys about sea turtles and why turtles are important and must be protected at all costs 1 like 1 fact

There are 7 known species of turtles and 6 of them are endangered

5 out of the 7 can be found in Ghana

Most information on turtles currently are assumptions and not much information is available on their behavior because of their population decline

The gender of a turtles depends on the temperature of the soil the eggs were laid into

It takes 10 years for a turtle to reach sexual maturity

When male turtles hatch, once they enter the sea they never ever come to land again.

Different species exhibit various levels of philopatry

If the temperature of the sand is high the turtles come out as females. If the temperature is low they come out as males.

Turtles are highly migratory, especially when they have to breed

They can lay eggs one - eight times in one breeding season

Takes 30 to 60 minutes for a title to lay eggs

Turtles can lay up to 350 eggs, sadly only about 1% successfully make it back to the ocean because sea birds catch them to feed on them and humans who go turtle hunting also catch them.

Thé few that make it to the ocean also have a low survival rate due to predation from bigger animals

Most species of turtles hatch at night except the Kemp’s Ridley

It makes it the most endangered species of turtles

Turtles play an important role in preserving the health of the ocean and they going extinct will be a big problem

Turtles feed on sea sponges. These sea sponges fight aggressively for space with reef building corals. (Coral reefs are the very colorful ecosystem we see under the ocean).

The coral reefs are one of the most successful ecosystems in the world so if the are not turtles to feed on sponges coral reefs wouldn’t be able to thrive well

Other animals can’t feed on the sponges because they have physical and chemical defenses which are harmful to them

The Hawksbill sea turtle is responsible for this.

Just like the grass on land, sea grass also needs to be ‘pruned’ to grow well. And also sunlight can penetrate very well. The GreenSea turtle does this.

If the sea grass is healthy, the seabeds are also healthy so fish and other aquatic animals can breed and live safely over there. Which means more fish

Sea turtles are the only organisms that can feed on jellyfish.

Jellyfish have very high fecundity, that is they are very fertile and they reproduce a lot. Jellyfish feed on large volumes of fish larvae and fish eggs, and prevent fish populations from expanding.

They also have low oxygen intake and can survive anywhere. Sea turtles are hence present to feed on them and keep them in check.

The leatherback sea turtles and hawksbill mostly feed on them. Without these turtles, the jellyfish will be overpopulated and because they feed and the fish eggs, fish productivity will be low and fishermen will have low catch rates.

The shells of turtles serve as habitat for other small organisms.