Saturday, May 28, 2011

Insight on Marine turtles


The Ningaloo region is identified as having large ranges for the life cycle of sea turtles nest. Three main types of sea turtles nest on the Ningaloo coast:

o Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

o loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)

o turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

The young turtles drift and feed in the open ocean. If they sign a certain size, land turtles settle near the coast.

Sea turtles grow slowly and take between 30 and 50 years to reach sexual maturity. They lived for years in one place before they are ready for the long spawning migration up to 3000 km from feeding areas to nesting beaches.

During the breeding season, to see between November and February, you can visit the green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles (three of seven species of sea turtles) come ashore to lay their eggs or fry to see rushing back to the sea

After reaching sexual maturity, the life cycle of sea turtles breed for several decades, but there may be intervals between breeding years.

When breeding, nesting females return to the same region, probably near where they were born.

Courtship and mating takes place in shallow waters near the nesting beach. Females often mate with more than one male and after mating, the men return to their feeding grounds.

When you have finished laying eggs, the female turtle climbs from the sea above the high water line, usually about an hour before, until about two hours after high tide at night.

In preparation for nesting, the female turtle away loose sand with four flippers to form a body pit. They dug an egg chamber vertical pear shaped with the hind flippers. Often the sand is not suitable for nesting, especially when it is too dry, and the turtle moves to another site. For most turtles, digging the nest takes about 45 minutes. It then takes another 10 to 20 minutes was the sequence of leathery eggs. Each clutch contains about 100 eggs white, spherical, "ping-pong ball size.

After laying, the turtle fills the egg chamber with sand using the hind flippers, and then fills the body pit using all four of its games. Nests can be covered to a depth of over a meter of sand blown over during the incubation of eggs. The turtle finally crawls back into the sea, in water about one to two hours after leaving. Green turtles may take longer to resolve.

On the beach, liquid depends on the view of the turtle. This is a concentrated salt solution that helps eliminate excess salt taken by the turtle sea water drinkable. This solution also washes his eyes free of sand.

A female turtle usually lays six clutches of green eggs every two weeks. Between the efforts of nesting females collected near nesting beaches. They returned on the same beach to lay successive clutches in the life cycle of sea turtles.

Incubation and the sex of their offspring depending on the temperature of the sand. Hot black sand produces mostly female and eggs hatch in seven to eight weeks. Eggs laid in cool, white sand resulting mainly males and the eggs to hatch more.

After hatching, the baby a few days to dig their way through the sand to the surface.
Leaving the nest, usually at night the head waiter to the ocean. Boy is easily disoriented and attracted by the bright light, such as street lights and the house - which contributes to many newborn deaths.

Most babies, the ocean, although crabs and sea birds on the beach attack. During the early hours in the water, these young turtles face heavy predation by sharks and other fish.
In February and early March, the turtles nest and venturing into the sea

Then the life cycle of turtles to the next generation.

This page has not only lots of information on sea turtles, take a look at my other related topics, including:

o sea turtles at Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef

o green turtles

Loggerhead turtles o

Hawksbill turtles o

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