Thursday, 24 May 2018

Sea turtle life cycle

I am learning to write explanation writing

Do you know what animal lives in the sea and was living 150,000,000 years ago? If you guessed sea turtle you are right. There are seven different species of sea turtles I will list them Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Flatback, Loggerhead, Green, Hawksbill and Kemp's Ridley. Did you know sea turtles can hold their breath for four-seven hours. There are four stages of life for sea turtles, the egg stage, the childhood stage and the adulthood stage. Should we start with the egg stage.

THE EGG STAGE
First a female sea turtle crawls far up the beach so the water does not drown the eggs under the sand. The female digs a hole till her flipper can not touch the sand.Then PLOP! Here comes the leathery ping pong ball sized eggs. The female lays approximately 50-200 eggs and around 1000 eggs a year. Sadly about 20% do not hatch but their are still babies and babies are cute.

THE CHILDHOOD STAGE
After the eggs hatch the next stage is underway. The babies wait till it is night time so there will be less predators. When the babies crawl to the surface they make there desperate dash to the sea. They can not see well so they see the moon’s reflection on the water. That is why if you see a sign if you are in a car that says ‘turn off your lights’ that is because the baby turtles see the light and they will crawl towards your car. The baby will most likely crawl towards the sea they will face some predators such as dogs, crabs, raccoons, birds and cats. Some of the baby turtles will drown from the waves crashing into them. Approximately 50% will parish trying to get to the sea. When the baby turtles make it into the sea they will face some new predators as fish, sharks, dolphins and sea birds when they come up for air. They will travel about 1,200 kilometers away from the beach they were born on.

THE ADULT STAGE
With growth comes some protection so now the main threats are tiger, bull and great white sharks and the occasional killer whale. Now at about two decades of age the female will now travel back to the same beach she was born on. The female turtle will meet as many male turtles as possible for more eggs which means more chance for survival. The turtle will find her beach that she was born on. When she has found it she will lay her eggs and then the life cycle start all over again.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, sea turtles have three distinctive life stages. The adult stage is the hardest for the turtles to survive because of human interference and pollution.

No comments:

Post a Comment