Amazing Facts About Sea Turtles | Read More Sea Turtles Facts

It’s no surprise that sea turtles are some of the most iconic and lovable animals in the ocean. To celebrate Reptile Awareness Day, we’re pulling out some of the strangest facts about these enchanting vertebrates. Here are some amazing facts about Sea Turtles.

These marine reptiles are classified into eight species by the majority of scientists. The quantity and layout of scutes (horny plates) on the carapace can help experts distinguish between them (top shell).
Unlike other sea turtles, the leatherback has leathery skin rather than scutes (horny plates). It's the only marine turtle with a backbone that isn't linked to the inside of the shell.
Sea turtles can be found in both tropical and temperate glasses of water around the globe. Most species' adults live in shallow coastal waters. Some animals travel long distances from their winter feeding sites to their summer breeding habitats.
Female sea turtles haul out to lay eggs, which is usually the only time they leave the sea. Turtles of both sexes have been seen basking on land on several desolate or poorly populated beaches.
Female sea turtles will often return to the beach where they hatched once they have reached sexual maturity. Females return to their ancestral beach season after season to lay their own clutches. Using her hind flippers, a female turtle digs a pit in the sand and deposits dozens of eggs the size of ping pong balls. These eggs then spend 1.5 to 2.5 months incubating beneath the sand, after which they hatch in a near-unison fashion. The newly hatched turtles scrambling to the surface, down the beach, and past the shoreline, the survivors repeating the cycle of birth, growth, and return.
The diets of different sea turtle species differ significantly. Green and black sea turtles eat algae and seagrasses. Crabs, shrimp, and mollusks can be crushed by the powerful jaws of loggerheads and ridleys. Only jellyfish and other soft-bodied animals are eaten by leatherbacks.