It's just sea turtles over here.
Joined July 2012
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58 Photos and videos
Jan 19
Sometimes you just need 6 minutes and 24 seconds of Olive Ridley hatchlings making their way down the beach. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, isn't it about time for a turtle break?
youtube.com/watch?v=HYF_vUBF…
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Jan 19
For years, scientists and fishers have been experimenting with illuminated gillnets to reduce sea turtle bycatch. Implementation has been limited by battery and maintenance needs, but a new solution has emerged: solar powered lights. ☀️💡🐢
globalseafood.org/advocate/c…
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Jan 19
Some sea turtles pull off a neat reproductive trick. A female can mate early in the season and store sperm, then use it to fertilize multiple clutches over the weeks that follow. It also means one nest can have multiple fathers, even if she only mates once that season.
ALT Nesting female loggerhead sea turtle. Photo credit: United States National Park Service (public domain)
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Jan 15
Loggerhead turtles are exceptional divers for any air-breathing animal, let alone for a reptile. One study in 2005 recorded overwintering dives up to 7 hours long, helped by serious oxygen stores and a slowed-down metabolism while resting in cold water.
ALT Loggerhead turtle. Credit: T. Moore/NOAA Fisheries (CC0 1.0)
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Jan 15
Sea turtle sex isn’t set at conception. It’s instead set by nest temperature. Warmer sand tends to produce more females, cooler sand more males. A few feet of shade from vegetation or a slightly cooler patch of sand can tilt an entire clutch’s sex ratio.
ALT Photo: U.S. National Park Service (public domain)
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Jan 15
Thanks to @ConservationOrg for their great work in protecting marine animals. Three sea turtles were found dead in this abandoned net as divers worked to remove it, but now sea turtles, dolphins, and other animals in the area won't be facing this threat again.
A team of divers recently removed the largest ever individual piece of “ghost gear” from the ocean.
Dive into this landmark effort to remove an abandoned fishing net nearly the size of a soccer pitch. conservation.org/news/off-me…
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Jan 15
Sea turtles carry a magnetic map of home. It's called geomagnetic imprinting: they learn the local magnetic signature when young, then use it years later to navigate back to the right region to nest. Natural GPS is real. Probably doesn't include music streaming, though.
ALT Green Sea Turtle. iNaturalist Photo 607896524, (c) raymond81alt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Jan 13
Loggerheads look like they’re wearing an oversized helmet for a reason. Their big heads house powerful jaw muscles that let them crush hard-shelled prey like whelks and conch, basically turning the seafloor into their personal seafood bar.
ALT Loggerhead Sea Turtle. iNaturalist Photo 527473661, (c) Henry Cooper, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Jan 13
In the open ocean, floating sargassum mats act like little drifting neighborhoods. Juvenile sea turtles use them for shelter and food, which means a patch of seaweed can be the difference between “found a safe nursery” and “wide-open water.”
ALT Photo credit: National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Jan 13
Hawksbill sea turtles have the most underrated job on a coral reef: they eat a lot of sea sponges. That's literally vital: sponges can outcompete reef-building corals for space, so a hungry hawksbill can help keep the reef from getting smothered.
youtube.com/watch?v=wlRqC_OM…
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Jan 12
If you’ve watched sea turtles nest, you probably never saw a male. After hatchlings hit the water, males almost never come back onto land. They spend their lives at sea, including mating, offshore. As a result, comparatively less is known about male behaviors compared to females.
ALT Male Green Sea Turtle (male turtles have a thick, extended tail). iNaturalist Photo 606215204, (c) Peter Swart, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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Jan 12
Eggshells from sea turtle nests are more than just byproducts that hatchlings leave behind. The shells contain calcium carbonate, nitrogen, and phosphorus, all important nutrients for dune plants. Dune plants boost the ecosystem and retain sand, another service turtles provide.
ALT Photo credit: Jay Paredes, Florida Atlantic University
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Jan 12
Sea turtles have been a traditional symbol of longevity in Japanese culture. During the Edo Period, turtles were one of the motifs decorating wedding rooms to ensure a long marriage. Since sea turtles live from 50 to 100 years, it's a fitting symbol. metmuseum.org/essays/japanes…
ALT "Sea Turtle (Emblem of Longevity)," attributed to Katsushika Hokusai, circa 1760–1849. Public domain, uploaded by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
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Jan 12
I'm not saying for sure there will ever be an all-sea turtle remake of The Shawshank Redemption, but @oceaiii has at least shared proof of concept.
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Sea turtle shells grow with them, but they’re also shaped by life in the ocean. Current strength, diet, and swimming behavior all influence shell shape, which helps explain why turtles of the same species can look surprisingly different.
ALT Hawksbill Sea Turtle Photo 597147409 by betty-norfolk-island-photos @iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)
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Sea turtles use smell more than people realize. Research shows they can detect chemical cues in the water, which may help them locate feeding areas and recognize familiar regions during long migrations, even when visual landmarks are gone.
ALT Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Photo 602007324 by John Bruin @iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)
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Sea turtles don’t just glide passively through currents. Tracking studies show they actively choose routes that balance current strength, water temperature, and food availability, adjusting course as conditions change over thousands of miles.
ALT Loggerhead Sea Turtle Photo 596933033 by Katharina @iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)
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Sea Turtles retweeted
The sea turtle cold stun season has officially come to a close!
In total, our Sea Turtle Rescue team treated:
• 404 critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles
• 48 green sea turtles
• 21 loggerhead sea turtles
Thanks to everyone who helped make this rescue season possible!
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Sea turtles can sense subtle changes in water pressure. As they dive, pressure on air spaces like their lungs and inner ear gives them constant feedback about depth, helping them adjust smoothly as they move through the water.
ALT Hawksbill Sea Turtle Photo 600531103 by Kacper Samuła @iNaturalist (CC BY-NC)
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