View allAll Photos Tagged turtle
I have seen sea turtles before swimming in the ocean around Maui, but on this trip we saw several cases when turtles beached themselves after a storm, presumably to rest. In one case, I counted 20 turtles resting on the beach near Ho‘okipa .
The turtle shown here pulled up on the beach in front of we were staying, seemed to be snoozing, and was gone by the next morning. I caught a moment when it briefly opened it's eyes.
From what I gather, this is a Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas). The diameter of this one’s shell was under a meter.
From the Sea Turtle Fact Sheet:
“Carapace length: 3.5 feet (1.07 meters) average weight is 300 lbs (136 kg) ... Green sea turtles take 20-50 years to reach reproductive maturity ... The most friendly sea turtle may be the “honu,” the green sea turtles that live in Hawaii. These turtles are so comfortable with humans that they swim with people on diving trips among the coral reefs. ... Food: Adult green sea turtles are herbivores, and their food includes sea grasses and algae. Young green sea turtles, however, are omnivores. Their diet includes jellyfish, small mollusks and sponges.”
Always a pleasure to see.
The turtle recovery program at Rondeau has reached the release stag.
Nest are dug up in the spring as soon as they are laid and the GPS location .
This is to protect the eggs from predators such as raccoons.
The eggs are placed in incubators and after hatching are released back at the original nest sites.
I provided the turtle taxi.
Graptemys geographica
Northern map turtles inhabit large rivers and lakes with slow-moving water and a soft bottom. They require high-quality water that supports the female’s mollusc prey. These turtles may congregate in areas with abundant basking sites.
source - Ontario Nature.
Olive Ridley Turtle: This is the only one of its kind in Kerala, and probably in India.Turtles used to nest here for ages. Situated on the mouth of Kottakkal Rivar-Vadakara.This is the birth place of Kunhali Marakkar, the renowned patriot, died fighting the foreign aggressors under the Zamorin Raja of Calicut
Olive Ridleys are peculiar for its mass nesting habit called the "arribada" a spanish term meaning "the arrival" . This is an instinctive device for ensuring the survival of the some of the eggs against all odds, by flooding millions of eggs laid by lakhs of turtles at a go. Gahirmatha-Orissa Inida is the biggest mass nesging field of Olive Ridleys in the World.
courtesy:Theeram Nature Conservation society
Turtle beach -Kolavipalam -Vadakara-Calicut
Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Prom. de la Gatineau, Gatineau Park, Quebec, Canada. June 9th, 2018.
This trio of turtles was climbing all over each other, trying to get the best place on the rock! Just one of the many displays at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, Florida, these were relatively small compared to the large sea turtles that were in the large tanks outside this room where they were being rehabilitated. The folks at the science center rescue local wildlife in trouble, and nurse it back to health, all the while, educating people about some of the creatures we share out area with that often go unnoticed.
A Painted Turtle basks in the Saturday sunshine on a rock at the Beaver Pond in Kanata. Saturday May 4 2024.
Some turtles on a rock in Xujiahui Park.
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This was a small snapping turtle (about 10 inches) and it was on the shoulder of the road. We had no gloves in the car to pick it up and help but watched as it safely arrived on the other side across two lanes of traffic.
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Bird Island | Seychelles
Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Following on from my previous comments about this species.
As part of Bird Island’s ongoing conservation programme, as many Hawksbill Turtles as possible are measured and tagged after laying – a procedure that my wife Tris and I have been privileged to share on many an occasion. We have also encountered a number of turtles laying when we have been on our own and, consequently, have been responsible for obtaining the tag numbers. There is usually a tag on each front flipper so, in theory, it’s just a simple case of recording the numbers, but sometimes this is easier than others. Although the process of coming out of the sea, up the beach to find a suitable nesting site, digging, laying and the covering up phase can take over two hours, there is a sudden sense of urgency when the job is done and all they want to do is get back to the sea as quickly as possible! For this reason, the best time to approach them to take their tag numbers is during the covering-up process. Normally you can just rub your fingers over the metal tags to remove any sand deposits so that you can read the numbers. Sometimes though this isn’t possible due to their position, particularly if they’ve made their way under bushes to lay, so you have to wait until they’re out in the open and ready to head back down the beach. It’s then a case of just holding her for a few seconds so that the tag numbers can be read. I’ve been shown how to hold them properly so I know what I’m doing, but to actually restrain them is far more difficult than you’d think, because, although relatively small as far as turtles go, they are remarkably strong creatures. I remember one of the very first times I had to do this when the turtle was near the sea - I thought I was going to be pulled in after her. I had visions of ending up on a beach on another island!
Whilst respecting their situation at all times, you can also approach a turtle when they are laying. However, if you’re walking around the beach and see a turtle in the shallows looking for a suitable spot to come in, or one that is already on the beach in the process of finding a nesting site and/or starting to dig, then it is essential to keep your distance. If a turtle is disturbed before laying, or doesn’t like the beach area she’s chosen, she will simply return to the sea to come up another time. The evidence of this is often seen when you find tracks in the sand that show one has come out and back in again without laying. Sometimes these tracks are short, but other times, particularly at the remote north end of the island, they can extend over distances exceeding 150m or more.
They lay up to 200 eggs at a time, so hatchings can be large and quite exciting to watch for those that are fortunate to witness. Whilst Hawksbills are protected, they still have to ensure that their chosen nest site is in a safe location well above the high-tide line to guard against crab predation. But, at the same time, hatchlings need to be given a fighting chance of reaching the sea alive before being attacked by crabs or picked off by gulls or frigatebirds, which means that they don’t really want to nest further from the sea than necessary.
To walk round Bird Island and spot a turtle coming in to lay is a very special experience.
NB. please have a look at some of the other photos in my 'Turtles' album.
LA: Emys orbicularis
EN: European pond turtle
DE: Europäische Sumpfschildkröte
HU: Mocsári teknős
We found him near a little pond.
The only turtle species that is endemic to Central Europe. Otherwise it can be found in Europe, Turkey and Morocco, as well.
Loves slow moving waters and ponds. They can live up 40-60 years long.
In many European countries they are endangered as their natural habitat of wetlands is shrinking.
In recent years they are also threatened by the fact that there are more and more Red-eared sliders (a turtle species native to the southern US and Mexico but often kept as pet in Europe) end up in the wild and behave as an invasive species against the local pond turtle.