Hello Everyone!
On tonight’s dive at the aggregation site, we saw a beautiful Hawksbill Turtle. Hal was able to get some great footage. Check it out! Also, can anyone tell me the name of the other common turtle in the Caribbean?
Grouper Education Program
Students helping protect a Caribbean Icon!
That turtle is beautiful! Also another kind of Caribbean turtle is the Loggerhead Turtle.
Loggerhead turtles are gray when they’re first hatched but turn a brownish color as adults. Out of the hundreds of eggs the mother lays, only about three make it to the ocean before getting eaten, and then they have to survive the ocean. Their scales have a specific pattern that looks kind of like layers when they’re newly hatched that I find fascinating. They have scales where their cheeks would be that look like freckles. When you see those “nature films” or “North America” (a series of nature at it’s greatest being filmed.) You might see the baby turtles being eaten by snakes, lizards, seagulls, or even alligators. Sometime people get the very rare film of a leopard dragging away a 250 pound female when they come up to lay their eggs. The leopard can’t eat that much turtle so it will drag it into the bushes and wedge it somewhere. Sometimes it will drag it into one place one night, then move the turtle next night, sometimes straight to her den, and waiting cubs. Hundreds of female sea turtles will come up onto the beach one night, nobody knows how they all know to go to that specific beach, on that specific night (as of like, 2014). The turtles are amazing! I think that it’s so sad when most of them die, but organizations that try to help the turtles don’t know when the baby turtles are going to hatch, and can’t really predict exactly when. Also the turtles hatch and get into the ocean in a matter of minutes, so they cannot try to help them into the water. here my second speech ends. Haha.
Yes! Good job, Jade!
Hi Todd, my speech was a little bit long right? I really love turtles. is the shell made of ivory? or is it bone? Is it turtle secret formula!? Don’t get me too excited, I might start burping speeches about turtles. Or other fish, like octopus! please reply, though you don’t have to read my speeches, haha.
That’s amazing! So pretty. The turtle swims so gently, whats the shell made out of? Is it a bone?
That is so cool! Is the Hawksbill turtle the type of turtle that is eaten by tiger sharks? Tiger sharks are the third most deadly shark in the world. They have special teeth with hundreds of tiny jagged points. The top most deadly shark is the bull shark. Second most deadly is, yes, the GREAT WHITE! Actually sharks aren’t aggressive, they just mistake us for food. usually after their first bite they stop, but most fatalities are caused just by that. That is because they have sharp teeth that sometimes have jagged edges. That is why the 3 most deadly sharks are bull sharks, great whites, and tiger sharks, because they have the most efficient teeth. Sea turtles are going extinct, it’s so sad. sea turtles are probably not found most in the ocean, but sadly, on people’s plates. But usually in shark and turtle recipes the whole turtle or shark isn’t used. Most people who fish for sharks think that they’re doing the right thing because it will make the shark attacks go down, and gather the main ingredient for shark fin soup. but sometimes, while the shark is still alive they’ll cut the fins off and drop it in the water. Sharks have to keep moving their entire lives, so either they die of blood loss, not being able to move, starvation, or getting eaten by another sea- dweller. It’s just a huge waste. When sea turtles are fished sometimes people just want a shell, or a minor part of the turtle for meat. Sharks have a “sixth sense.” Sharks can sense when an animal is near because of something like a sound wave or frequency, I don’t really know how to explain it, and I don’t have, like, an information packet in front of me. I think the shell is kind of a bone, or ivory maybe? Ivory is what elephant tusks are made of, and I think walrus tusks and rhino horns. The turtle shell is very special, it’s what keeps the turtles protected from most sharks and other things with sharp teeth. Except of course the Tiger shark, which has specialized teeth. Actually, I think sea turtle shells aren’t made of bone, because how would the sharks teeth (which are also bone) bite through? Of course it could be because the tiger shark has serrated teeth that are pointy, and thin enough to make a cut instead of a dent. And my speech is getting a bit long, whoops.
This turtle is so beautiful and it floats through the water so gracefully.