Sea Turtles

 

 

Sea Turtles
Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Class: Sauropsida; Order: Testudines; Suborder: Cryptodir; Superfamily: Chelonioidea.
Sea Turtles belong the to superfamily Chelonioidea and can be found throughout the world, except for polar regions. They are almost always in the water and carry for themselves an anaerobic system of respiration which allows them to do so for long periods of time underwater. When oxygen is present they can uickly refill their lungs at surface. Their average lifespan is 80 years. They don’t achieve sexual maturity for decades. As they mate out to sea, the females return to land to nest at night and often return to the very beach that they were hatched which happens 2-4 years into maturity and creating 1-8 nests a season. The Hawksbill Turtle or honu ea (Eretmochelys imbricata) is endangered and the rarest of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean. In Hawaii, 90% of these nests are on the Big Island. The Green Turtle or Honu are common at Pulalu’u on the Big Island basking on the black sand beachers.