He Life cycle of the turtle Of sea can last up to 100 years and begins at the moment in which it breaks the shell of the egg and launches to the swim for the first time.
This cycle comprises from the time spent swimming the turtle until it reaches adulthood, the stage of reproduction and egg laying. Nevertheless, it is said that after throwing itself to the swimming there are several years"lost"of the life of a turtle.
Sea turtle life cycle.
Thus, these years will be those that the turtle will dedicate to its physical development and growth. They are the most difficult years to track by scientists and biologists, as the movement of the turtle in the ocean is random and can travel great distances.
Once the swimming stage is completed, and the turtle is adult, it is directed to the mating areas. Shortly afterwards, most turtles return to the beach where they were born to reproduce and lay their eggs.
Interestingly, this reproduction cap can occur several times throughout the life of the turtle once it reaches maturity.
Generally, the life cycle of turtles can be interrupted by natural or man-made threats.
Among the natural threats are predators that feed on eggs and turtle pups. Humans, on the other hand, pose a greater danger to turtles by placing them on the list of endangered animals.
Here are the main stages of development and phases through which you spend throughout your life:
The stages in the life cycle of the sea turtle
1- Birth and first years
Once the turtle hatchlings have developed completely inside the shell, they break it and slowly dig to surface. This process takes place on a massive scale and can take several days.
Breaking eggs usually takes place at night, as the young can use the dark to avoid being detected by many predators while trying to walk the beach to reach the ocean.
Once the hatchlings reach the water, they enter a period of swimming for several days. This swimming frenzy is possible thanks to the remains of egg yolk that remain in the body of the turtles. This allows the offspring to move away from the shore and from potential predators.
Small turtles are also transported by strong ocean currents to open oceanic habitats where they will live between floating debris and algae, and will have an omnivorous diet. This stage can take several years, even decades.
2- Development and migration
After the swim in the ocean, the young turtles will move to the feeding areas near the coast, known as neritic zones. Here they will finish their growth process which may take several years or decades to complete.
In these areas you can find more variety of food than in the open ocean, but you will also find more predators.
For this reason, turtles entering these areas should have a considerable body size to help protect them from being eaten.
Adult turtles that need to recover energy after the nesting season move to these areas until they can migrate back to mating areas.
3- Migration of adults
Once the turtles get the necessary energy resources to reproduce, both males and females will migrate to mating areas and later (in the case of females) they will go to the nesting areas.
The distance between the feeding and breeding areas can reach hundreds or thousands of kilometers.
However, during each mating season the females return to nesting on the same beach or the same group of beaches where they were born.
4- Mating in coastal areas
Generally a female only needs to mate with a male to fertilize all its eggs in a season, however, it is common to see cases of multiple paternity depending on the species of turtle. This is because many males may try to mate with several females during the same season.
Males tend to be aggressive during the mating season with both females and other males.
5- Return of the males feeding areas
The males also tend to return to the beaches where they were born, although they visit areas larger than the females, in this way they manage to mate with a larger number of females during the same season. Once the males mate, they return to the feeding areas.
6- Nesting
During the nesting stage, female turtles enter the coasts to deposit the eggs. This event takes place a few weeks after mating.
Thus, once the females manage to reach the coast, they begin to dig a large hole in the sand with their fins, as if they were shovels. This hole is shaped like a pitcher and during its excavation process the turtles can even throw sand through the air.
Therefore, when the nest is complete, the females use their rear flaps to dig a smaller pit at the deep end of the nest, which is known as the Camera for eggs .
A female can deposit between 50 and 200 eggs of soft shell in this chamber (the amount of eggs will depend on the species of turtle). Once these are deposited, the turtle again covers the hole with sand and returns ocean.
Females usually stay close to mating areas for one to two months, allowing them to be fertilized several times, so they can lay eggs between two and seven times. These events will take place every 10 or 15 days during the same season.
7- Return to the food areas
Turtle females should migrate to feeding areas once they lay their eggs. This process can take several months, depending on the distance between the beach where the nest is located and the feeding area.
Once the nesting season is over, the females must recover their energy deposits in order to be ready for the next nesting season. This recovery period usually takes more than a year, in some cases it may take several years.
These feeding areas are also used by other large adults and young people.
References
- Gibson, S. (2017). Olive Ridley Project . Retrieved from Life Cycle of Turtles: oliveridleyproject.org.
- Gutierrez, D. (2017). Sciencing . Retrieved from"Life Cycle of a Turtle: sciencing.com"
- Kalman, B. (2002). The Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.
- (2015). Sea Turtle Conservancy . Retrieved from Information About Sea Turtles: Threats to Sea Turtles: conserveturtles.org.
- (2017). The State of the World's Sea Turtles . Retrieved from THE LIFE OF A SEA TURTLE: seaturtlestatus.or.
- Trumbauer, L. (2004). The Life Cycle of a Turtle. Mankato: Pebble Books.
- Weller, P. v., Nahill, B., Osborne, N.E., & Brindley, H. (2017). SEE TURTLES . Retrieved from"Life Cycle of A Sea Turtle": seeturtles.org.