The Green Sea Turtle

The Green Sea Turtle is an amazing and fascinating creature, but it is also on the endangered list. The green sea turtle is born as an egg and then hatched underneath the sand. The green sea turtle is cold blooded and can weigh 100 to 400 pounds. The adults can get 2-4 feet in length. Did you know that the shell of the turtle is actually their skeleton? These turtles can stay under water for about 5 to 10 minutes, that’s a long time. One amazing thing about them is that near a reef there are fish down at the bottom and the turtles go down and get their shell cleaned by the fish and there are turtles in line to get their shell cleaned too, that’s amazing! When the turtles are sleeping, they can stay under water for about 2 ½ hours.

The turtles are very cool, but they are also very much in danger. One very serious thing that endangers this precious animal is called by-catch. By-catch is when fisheries catch other animals in the nets than what they are supposed to. One thing that attracts the turtles to their fisheries is the many fish that are in that area, but in commercial fishing nets they have devices that help keep the turtles out of harm.

Another extreme problem, even worse than the by-catch, is the ocean pollution. The ocean pollution is a threat to the natural resources but 80 percent of this ocean pollution comes from the land. Pollutants from farming, lawns, and drains can flow into rivers and can pollute the ocean even more than what is happening already. These turtles are at very high risk in Hawaii because the people take their shells and use them for jewelry and cosmetics, also because of tiger sharks.

The turtles mainly live in three places; the land, zones in the open ocean and feeding areas. I think these turtles should not be treated this way. They have been a part of this world for millions of years and it seems that only some people care about them and I can tell you that I am one of them.

I have come up with two ways to help all aged sea turtles and newborns. One, we can have a day where we get some volunteers to come out and clean up the beaches. Two, is that during breeding season, which is May through August, we can tell all the hotels to turn the beach lights off for those months and maybe a month later for late bloomers, so that the hatchlings will be directed to the water and not to the crowds and the hotels. Here are some ways to help these turtles and I hope this gives you a better understanding of these amazing creatures.

Autumn
School: Galaxy Middle School