6. Summary of the lesson "Sea Turtles"

We have seen tortoises in a zoo or a park. But, most of us would not have seen a sea turtle.

 

 

Is the sea turtle different from tortoise? Yes. They are relatives but not the same. Why most of us would not have seen a sea turtle? Because these reptiles (a species of animals that have scaly skin and lay soft-shelled eggs on the land; includes lizards, crocodiles also) live their entire life in the sea.

  

There are seven different types of marine or sea turtles in the world. Out of seven, five are found in our Indian seas. They are:

Sea turtles are much bigger than most tortoises. They live their life fully in oceans - but they come to land (shore) to lay eggs. Of the above five species, four have become rare species in India. The most common ones are the Olive Ridleys, which can be still seen on all sandy beaches along our coasts.

 

How do female Olive Ridley turtles lay their eggs?

 

In many places around the world, local people follow the turtle's footsteps and find the way to its nest, take away the eggs for eating. Other animals follow the scent left behind by the turtle - jackals, domestic dogs and pigs dig up the holes and eat the eggs. Some eggs escape from the animals that eat other animals. These eggs will open after 45-60 days. The young animal that hatches out from an egg is called a hatchling. The hatchlings have a sharp razor-like blade at the pointed end of its nose, called "egg-tooth". With the help of the blade, it slits open the leathery shell of the eggs. After most of the eggs hatch, the young turtles push themselves up to come out of the sand. From there, they quickly move to the sea.