SEA TURTLE FACT SHEET

Common Name: Marine turtles or Sea Turtles

Scientific Name: Cheloniidae / Dermochelyidae families

Habitat: Open water and coastal habitats

Background

Six of the seven species of sea turtles are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, and the outlook is increasingly grim. In the Pacific, leatherbacks are heading for extinction, fast, and in the Mediterranean, green turtle numbers have plummeted.

All seven species of sea turtles are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), thus international trade is prohibited amongst the 166 CITES member nations. Three of them are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN RedList.

Many offspring, few survivors

Sea turtles appear to have the potential to reproduce abundantly: females can lay hundreds of eggs in one nesting season. But even under “natural” conditions, relatively few young turtles survive their first year of life and estimations are that one in a thousand survives to adulthood.

Predators such as crabs and birds often kill the hatchlings as they make their way from the nest to the sea, and when they reach the shallows, many more small turtles are taken by fish. When humans harvest turtle eggs, disturb or degrade nesting beaches, the scales become tipped even more heavily against young turtles.

Decades to reach maturity
It takes decades for surviving juveniles to reach maturity and start to breed, and adult turtles must live to reproduce over many years if the population is to thrive. But escalating mortality on the high seas, in the nets and long-lines of fishing fleets, and from pollution and disease, means fewer and fewer turtles are living long enough to reproduce.

Protection vital at all stages of the life cycle
Effective conservation means protecting turtles at all stages of their life cycle. Protecting nesting beaches calls for action at the local level, and protecting juvenile and adult turtles in oceanic waters calls for enforceable international agreements. It can work: in the Gulf of Mexico thirty years of conservation is helping Kemp’s Ridley turtle to make a slow comeback. For other species, however, time is running out.

Major habitat type
Open water and coastal habitats

Why is this species important?

Sea turtles fulfil important roles in marine ecosystems
Turtles feed many species in the open ocean. The small turtles eat tiny animals that they find in the floating seaweed concentrations where they live. Fish, sharks and birds in turn prey upon the young turtles. Sea turtles fill an important ecological role by controlling prey species and themselves providing food to larger predators. The disappearance of  turtles could therefore have widespread effects in open ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Sea turtles are biological nutrient transporters
All species of sea turtle carry energy from the coastal and pelagic ecosystems where they feed, to the sandy beaches where they deposit their eggs and therefore they function as biological nutrient transporters. The energy contained inside turtle eggs comes from the food items that the turtles have found in the marine environment. Through sea turtles, the health of the ocean and of the ecosystems on land are directly connected.

A live turtle is worth more than a dead turtle
Sea turtles are economically important to humans. Coastal communities in developing countries use sea turtles as a source for food. Also, the catch of fish and invertebrates that are used for human consumption or commerce ultimately depend on healthy turtle populations.

In recent years, sea turtles have become increasingly important as an ecotourism attraction. This has led to a rise in tourism operations that in turn provide jobs and income to seaside communities throughout the tropical and subtropical part of the world. Turtle watching increases people’s interest in marine and coastal issues and inspires commitment to support conservation efforts. Sea turtles are flagship species that attract help to themselves as well as to the many species with which they co-exist.

For more information about the status of Sea Turtles in The Indian Ocean and South East Asia, visit the following link from the IOSEA website: http://www.ioseaturtles.org/species_overview.php

Last but not least, two Sea Turtle Identification Guides to help you find out what differentiates one turtle species from the other in terms of morphology.

Sea Turtle Identification Key from Kelonia and Ifremer

Sea Turtle Identification Sheet by Seaturtle.org and REEF

AND  IN  KUWAIT?

Hawksbill turtles in Kuwait:

In Kuwait, Hawksbill turtles are nesting on Mina As-Zour beach area (average 10-15 per year) as well as on offshore islets Qaru and Umm Al-Maradim. No clear estimation of the nesting population has been established yet about these islets, as the Kuwait Turtle Conservation project only has one nesting season of research so far. Male and female turtles are encountered in the waters around the islands from May to September and this fact is an indication of mating activity during these times. More, however, shall be revealed after a full second season of research (summer-fall 2009) and hopefully also after the 2010 nesting season.

Hawksbill hatchlings were found on Qaru island in July 2009, proving that Hawksbill turtles have nested there and there was some successful hatching.