ABANTO,+MARITONI+L

//SEA TURTLES Period:6**
 * By:Maritoni Abanto

1....................................Introduction 2....................................What are sea turtles? 3....................................Species of sea turtles 4....................................What do they eat? 5....................................Nesting 6.....................................Where are they most commonly found? 7.....................................How heavy is each species? 8.....................................How big do they become? 9.....................................Habitat 10...................................Facts about sea turtles 11...................................Conclusion
 * TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page 1-Introduction**// __Sea turtles are very interesting animals. Some different sea turtle species change the way they eat as they age. They are known as air-breathing reptiles that can also be under water. Sea turtles are reptiles that have been on Earth for so long. Most spend their entire life at sea and only go on land when they are nesting. The largest sea turtle is the leatherback. It is the largest out of all the species of sea turtles. It can grow up to 6.5 feet long and weigh 1,400 pounds! These creatures are so amazing and interesting because of the way they age and the way they live. I chose sea turtles as my topic for this research report because i think it is so cool they get to live for such a long time. I will start this report by telling you what a sea turtle is, the species and how many kinds their are,what each species eats, nesting, where they are most commonly found, how heavy they are, how big each species becomes,and their habitat. Also i will be giving you fascinating facts about sea turtles.__

//**Page 2-What are sea turtles? **__What are sea turtles? Well, sea turtles are reptiles that spend almost their entire lives under the ocean. They are large turtles that have flippers and are widely distributed in warm seas. There are at least 7 species of sea turtles. The 7 species are: hawksbill, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, flatback, Olive ridley, green, and leatherback.Their habitat is in a marine ecosystem. Their feet are paddles or flippers and they do their nesting on a beach. Usually (for female sea turtles)when they first nest on one beach, thats where they will nest again the next time. They live in tropical and subtropical seas. All sea turtles except a leatherback has a hard shell. The hard shell on their back is called a carapace. Adult female and male sea turtles are the same size. They live to be 80 or more years of age.Sea turtles have been in this planet for tens of milions of years.__//

//__There are 7 living species of sea turtles. They are: flatback, green, hawksbill, Kemp's Ridley, leatherback,loggerhead and the olive ridley. The flatback is a sea turtle that is more unusual than the other species. It is different because it lays bigger eggs but fewer than the average sea turtle species. The mature green sea turtle spend most of their time in sea grass beds and coastal waters. Also, unlike other sea turtles, green turtles sometimes go on secluded beaches in the day to bask in the sun. Hawksbill sea turtles are a endangered species and they are most likely found in tropical coral reafs. They are known to be omnivores.Kemp's Ridley turtles are also endangered species of sea turtles. They are also known as one of the smallest sea turtle species. The loggerhead mates during early June and March. Leatherbacks are the largest of all of the turtles! They can be found in open ocean and prefer deep water. Last but not least is the olive ridley. The olive ridley is named for their olive color. They have a heart-shaped shell and their head is large. These are all the species of sea turtles and they all are unique by their shape, size, color, the way they mate, and more!__//
 * Page 3-Species of sea turtles.[[image:fg0-7645-5151-5_0909.jpg align="left"]]**

//__What do sea tutles eat? The food that sea turtle eats depends on their species. Like the hawksbill sea turtles. They are known for eating comb jellies, jellyfish, and invertebrates. Flatback turtles feed on soft bodied organisms like jellyfishes. The Kemp's Ridley sea turtles eat seapens and blue or spotted crabs. Green sea turtles are herbivores and they like to eat a type of agae caled "limu". Leatherbacks feed on jellyfish just like flatback turtles do. The olive ridley are carnivorous turtles and eat snails, shrimp, small crabs fish eggs, pearl oysters, echinoderms, jellyfish and more. The loggerhead turtles like to feed on fish, sponge, and jellyfishes. Most of the turtles like to eat jellyfishes. Some sea turtles are carnivores and herbivores, but others are also omnivores. Those are all the species and what type of organisms they eat.__//
 * Page 4-What do they eat?[[image:TurtlesEating-m.jpg width="622" height="433" align="left"]]**

//__Each species do their nesting in the same place they did before or a different place. Biologists think that green sea turtles nest in the same place they were born. The flatback turtles are known to nest in Austrailia. The hawksbill sea turtles nest about 5 times during a laying season and they usually lay 130 eggs. The Kemp's Ridley's nesting season is April-July and they make 2 to 3 clutches of about 100 eggs. The female leatherback turtles usually nest on tropical beaches and nest several times during a nesting season. The logger heads in the United States do their nesting from late March to early June. The last one is the sea turtle called the olive ridley. The olive ridley species usually nests along mainland shores and lay about 100 eggs or more__//
 * Page 5-Nesting[[image:arribada.jpg align="left"]]**

//__All species have their own place__ __where they live. All of them can be found in almost all of the oceans except fpr the Arctic ocean. I am going to tell you where each species is most commony found. The flatback turtle are mainly found in the northern part of Australia. Green sea turtles, also known as the Chilonia Mydas, can be seen throughout the Atlantic ocean. The hawksbill turtle can be spotted in the Indian ocean, African continent,Pacific ocean, and many other places. Kemp's Ridley turtle's most commonly found place is in the gulf of mexico, Florida and New Jersey. Leatherbacks, or the Dermochelys coriacea, can be seen in the open ocean. Loggerheads are found in the Indian and Pacific ocean. Last one is the olive ridley's, and they are most commonly found in the Bay of Bengal. Those are all the species of se turtles and where they are most likely to be found.__//
 * //Page 6-Where are they most commonly found?//**

__//Many of the sea turtles grow up to weigh hundreds of pounds. The loggerhead species weighs 250-400 pounds. The leatherback's get to weigh 250-700 kilograms. The olive ridley's average weight is 100 pounds. The flatback sea turtle gets to way up to 200 pounds. The green turtles weigh about 600-800 pounds. Hawksbill's average weight is known to be 80 kilograms but the heaviest hawksbill to be captured is 127 kilograms. Kemp's ridley is 100 pounds or 45 kilograms.//__
 * Page 7-How heavy is each species?[[image:peconic-sea-turtle.jpg align="left"]]**

//**Page 8-How big do they become?** __How big do sea turtles become? The leatherback is the largest sea turtle. They measure up to be 6-7 feet. The average size for a flatback is 90 centimeters long. One of the the largest green sea turtle that was found was one that was 93 centimeters in length and 82 cms. The hawksbill turtle is about 42 millimeters. Kemps ridley's grows to become 2 feet in shell lenghth. The loggerhead becomes 36 to 38 inches. The olive ridley approximately becomes about 2-2.5 feet. So not all sea turtles are big. Some are also small growing about 2-4 feet long in adult size. But there are also some that become 6-7 feet long.__//

__The habitat of the flatback turtle is mainly on the coast of Australia. The green turtle habitat is that the adult turtles spend most of their time on coastal shallow waters. The leatherback turtle's can be found in open oceans and they are unusual because they can survive and swim in colder water than the average sea turtle can. Loggerhead turtles increase their weight more than 6000 times from childhood to adulthood and they also occupy different ecosystem which are:the terrestrial zone, the oceanic zone and the neretic zone. Kemp's ridley turtles habitat is in New Jersey, the Golf of Mexico, and Florida. Olive ridley turtles are known to inhabit in bays, estuaries and coastal areas and they are a omnivore which means that they eat meat and plants. the hawksbill's habitat is that they are mainly found in tropical coral reefs and they like to rest in caves and ledges around the coral reefs.__
 * Page 9-Habitat[[image:sea-turtle.jpg align="left"]]**


 * Page 10-Facts about sea turtles[[image:207255-Giant-Sea-Turtles-0.jpg align="left"]]**

__F1-There are 7 living species of sea turtles F2-The leatherback is the largest sea turtle__ __F3-The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is the rarest sea turtle__ __F4-The Kemp's Ridley turtle is in endangered species__ __F5-The Hawksbill turtle is also known as being critically a endangered species F6-The loggerhead turtle is the most seen sea turtle inFlorida F7-The leatherback is the most active of all se turtles F8-They've been living on Earth for millions of yrs. F9-They witnessed the extinction of dinosaurs F10-Sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles F11-Sea turtles can be omnivores, herbivores, and carnivores__ __F12-They spend almost their entire life in the ocean except when a female does her nesting F13-Everytime they lay eggs, its usually 100 or more. F14-Leatherback sea turtles are named for their large heads F15-Most sea turtles nest at night time F16-Most sea turtles that eat meat, eat jelyfishes F17-Females dig a hole when they are going to nest F18-Another name for loggerhead isCaretta Caretta F19-Another name for olive ridley is Lepidochelys Olivacea__ __F20-Another name for Hawksbill is Eretmochelys Imbricata__

__In conclusion sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles that spend most of their time under water. There are 7 types or species of sea turtles. Sea turtles can be omnivores and carnivores, but they can also be herbivores. All of the species come in all shapes and sizes and they eat different organisms even though they are all sea turtles. I found out that sea turtles are not all the same and that their are very heavy ones and light ones too. the Kemp's ridley turtle is way smaller than the leatherback. But there are still things that they have in common with. For example, they both nest on beaches or and and sometimes they have the same nesting seasons. So hopefully you enjoyed my research report about sea turtles and how interesting they can actually be.__
 * //Page 11-Conclusion[[image:turtls2.gif align="left"]]//**


 * Page 12-Bibliography**

1. "Defenders of Wildlife" by:Donna A. Dewhurst 

2. "Sea Turtle" 

3. "Marine Turtles" 

4. "Sea Turtle Quick Facts" 

5. "Green Sea Turtles" 

6. "Loggerhead Turtle" 

7. "Leatherback Turtles" 