Sea Turtles

Sea turtles spend their lives in the oceans of our planet. The only time they come ashore is to lay eggs. Sea turtles can tolerate a wide range of salinities, making it possible for them to travel throughout the earth's warm-water environments.

Sea turtles are reptiles. Their bodies are covered by a shell which is a think, sturdy surface which provides protection for their soft, inner body and sensitive organs. Sea turtles must breathe air to survive. They lack gills, and have lungs just like human beings. Sea turtles have powerful jaws, useful for crushing food and sometimes defending themselves.

They have a wide range of foods that they like to eat. They will eat small fish, crustaceans, sponges, and most even eat jellyfish.

There are currently seven recognized species of sea turtles. They are the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the green (Chelonia mydas), the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), the Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), the Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and the flatback (Natador depressa).

Sea turtles are amazing creatures when it comes to reproduction. Sea turtles copulate in the ocean, and then females will make a journey to the very beach that they were hatched from, and it is there that they deposit their eggs. Sea turtles will lay a clutch, or group of eggs, that on average is about 80-120 eggs, depending upon the species.

There are rules about what you can and can not do during Egg Laying Season on all the beaches of Manasota Key- it is very easy for the baby turtles to become disorienated and lose their way on their trip to the ocean. We have posted these rules in each apartment so you will know how to behave during the hours of darkness.

If you are lucky, you may be able to spot a sea turtle yourself!