Find everything you want to know about
Turtles

From gentle sea turtles to curious box turtles—discover species, habitats, and conservation status.

For Ms. Walker
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Some endangered or highly threatened turtles

Many turtles face habitat loss, poaching, and climate change. Here are several that need our help:

Sea turtle swimming in the ocean
Sea turtles are ancient mariners—some migrate thousands of miles between feeding and nesting grounds.

About sea turtles

Sea turtles are marine reptiles in the order Testudines (suborder Cryptodira). There are seven recognized species: flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and olive ridley. Six of the seven are considered globally threatened.

Hard-shelled species are called cheloniids; the leatherback is the only living member of the dermochelyid group—with a flexible, leathery shell adapted for deep, long-distance ocean travel.

Distribution and Habitat

Sea turtles can be found in all oceans except for the polar regions. The flatback sea turtle is found solely on the northern coast of Australia. The Kemp's ridley sea turtle is found solely in the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast of the United States.[30] Sea turtles are generally found in the waters over continental shelves. During the first three to five years of life, sea turtles spend most of their time in the pelagic zone floating in seaweed mats. Green sea turtles in particular are often found in Sargassum mats, in which they find food, shelter and water.[31] Once the sea turtle has reached adulthood it moves closer to the shore.[32] Females will come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches during the nesting season.[33] Sea turtles migrate to reach their spawning beaches, which are limited in numbers. Living in the ocean therefore means they usually migrate over large distances. All sea turtles have large body sizes, which is helpful for moving large distances. Large body sizes also offer good protection against the large predators (notably sharks) found in the ocean.[34] In 2020, diminished human activity resulting from the COVID-19 virus caused an increase in sea turtle nesting. Some areas in Thailand saw an abnormally high number of nests, and Florida experienced a similar phenomenon. Less plastic and light pollution could explain these observations.[35]