1. Sea Turtles

2. Reptiles – shared characteristics
• Three
chambered
heart
• Scales
• Internal
fertilization
• External
development
(eggs)

3. Marine Types
• Sea Snakes – Pacific & Indian Oceans, 50 species
• Marine Iguanas – Galapagos, only one species
• Sea Turtles – Wider distribution, 8 species

4. Types that visit
Long Island
• Kemp’s Ridley
• Hawksbill
• Green
• Loggerhead
• Leatherback
Other Types
• Pacific
• Flatback
• Olive

5. Anatomy
• Use a beak for feeding (crabs, algae, jellies)
• Plastron – ventral shell
• Carapace – dorsal shell; spine fused to it
• Lungs (NOT GILLS!!)

6. Life Cycle
• Mate just offshore at 15-30 years old
• Every 2 – 4 years return to natal beaches to lay 100-
160 eggs
• Eggs are leathery, about ping pong ball sized
• Eggs incubate for about 2 months before hatchlings
head toward water under cover of the moon
• Warm temperatures females
• Cool temperaturesmales

8. Status
• All endangered or
threatened
– Kemp’s Ridley most
endangered
– In 1947 there were
42,000. Today there
are 400-500

9. Threats• Humans
• Predators
• Habitat loss (mostly loss of beaches)
• Sea level rise
• Drowning in shrimp nets
• Choking on plastics, other floatable garbage
• Boat collisions
• Disorienting lights on beach businesses (leads
hatchlings away from water)

10. Threats• Humans
• Predators
• Habitat loss (mostly loss of beaches)
• Sea level rise
• Drowning in shrimp nets
• Choking on plastics, other floatable garbage
• Boat collisions
• Disorienting lights on beach businesses (leads
hatchlings away from water)