Fast Facts: Sea Turtles

Fast facts about sea turtles that you may not have known!

-Although sea turtles spend their entire life in the ocean, they must surface to breathe because they are reptiles.

-The largest sea turtle is the leatherback, growing over six feet and weighing over 1,000 pounds.

-Sea turtles do not lay one egg and one nest a season. They lay hundreds of eggs and multiple nests.

-During their nesting, female sea turtles do not eat.

-Sea turtles, and all turtles, have no teeth. They have beaks and very powerful jaw muscles.

-The loggerhead is the primary nesting sea turtle in North Carolina.

-There are seven species of sea turtles.

-The sex of sea turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand during incubation.

-Sea turtles cannot pull into their shell.

-Green sea turtles got their name because their diet changes the color of their fatty tissues.

-All sea turtles are impacted by pollution and marine debris.