It all starts with an egg...During the mating season, females and males will mate at sea. Once her eggs are fertilized, the female travels back to the shores on which she hatched. In the dark of night she digs a hole using her back flippers, lays her eggs and carefully covers them and camouflages the area. She returns to the ocean, likely to never to see her again.
These eggs, nests ranging in size from 60-120 (depending on the species), sit protected, incubating in the sand. If all goes well and the nest is undisturbed, within about 8 weeks the yolk should develop into a fully formed hatchling that is ready to take on the world. These hatchlings must work together, hatching all at once and wriggling their way out of the nest. Once out the new borns head straight for the ocean, with every inch they become stronger, learning how to use their muscles and getting ready to fight the whitewater preceding the open sea. |
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And then they disappear... |
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After making it to the sea, the newly hatched turtles will typically find floating debris such as seaweed that can be used as a shelter. They occupy these makeshift nurseries until they have grown to about the size of a dinner plate, big enough to survive in the open water.
There is very little information about what the growing juveniles do and what their migration patterns are during this period so it is often referred to as the "lost years". But every year more studies are starting to uncover what happens during this time. Once their pelagic (open ocean) phase comes to an end and they return to coastal waters where they forage and continue to mature. Sea turtles are very mobile during this time and have been known to travel great distances. All in all the amount of time a turtle takes to mature depends on their species, some taking up to 10 years before moving on to the next phase of their life. |
Adulthood.
After years of growth the sea turtles reach sexual maturity. Some species stop growing after reaching this point in their lives but others will continue to grow. Mature turtles may migrate thousands of miles to reach breeding sites. After mating at sea, only the females will come ashore to lay eggs, generally in the area where they were born. Females may in a single season, Every 2-4 years over the course of their lifetime, female sea turtles participate in the mating season, and alternate between mating in the water and laying their eggs on land, laying 1-8 clutches each season. Most sea turtle species nest individually but select populations of Ridleys participate in mass nesting events, known as "arribadas" (arrivals).
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