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SIZE/WEIGHT: Usually 505 pounds
in size (40"
shell length), the species has been reported to reach sizes
of up to 850 pounds (with a shell length of up to 60").
LIFE SPAN: 60 years
COLOR: Greenish shell color
WHERE FOUND: found in tropical seas.
FEEDING: The young stay initially in
coastal waters to feed on plants and
invertebrates. Adults feed on plant life present in tropical seas
REPRODUCTION: This species takes 10
to 14 years to reach sexual maturity.
Once mature, females can lay eggs one to seven times a year. Individual
females
seek out "high wave energy" beaches to make their nests in. They crawl
up onto
the beach at night, dig a hole in the sand behind themselves with their
hind flippers
and deposit from 60 to 250 golf ball sized eggs in the hole. The then cover
up the
hole with sand and lumber back into the water. The nesting activity lasts
up to 2
hours. The eggs then incubate in the warm sand for 55 to 65 days. Upon
hatching,
the young turtles dig their way up to the surface of the sand and then
rush
downhill, pell mell for the open ocean. Whether they hatch in the day or
at night,
they will face a virtual gauntlet of predatory animals (including raccoons,
coatmundi, foxes, birds, humans, and fishes), and predation is so severe
that only
5% survive the first two weeks.
This reptile is endangered for a lot of reasons, all having to do with
direct or
indirect human actions. These include declining area suitable for nesting
(due to
beach front development), increasing human harvesting of eggs for food,
increase
in shore side lighting near beaches causing confusion of turtle hatchlings
at night,
increased shrimp boat activities (turtles drown in shrimp nets), increased
pollution
(including oil and inert objects like plastic bags that turtles eat and
can cause
blockage), increase in harvesting of adult and sub adult turtles for turtle
soup, and
loss of sea grass beds (which are a large part of a turtle's diet).
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