Question 1

What is a turtle hatchery?

Accepted Answer

A turtle hatchery is the place where the sea turtles swim and return back to hatch their eggs. Thereafter, the hatchery authorities take care of the hatched eggs till the time they are ready to swim in the waters.

Question 2

How are sea turtles able to return to the same beach to nest?

Accepted Answer

The ability of the sea turtles to return to the same beach where they clutched their eggs earlier is supported by many theories. However, we are yet to achieve a full-fledged confirmation on this. Some of these most common assumptions are as follows – - According to the latest theory, sea turtles can navigate with their ability to detect both the angle and intensity of the magnetic field of the earth’s surface. - Another so-called theory believes that their hatchling process imprints some unique qualities of that natal beach. - All the younger female sea turtles possess an immense ability to follow their elder and experienced ones to move in the direction of the feeding ground to the rookery. 
However, all these theories are yet to be proved.

Question 3

How does a sea turtle nest?

Accepted Answer

The nesting process of a sea turtle varies significantly between species and is known to consist of several different stages. The female sea turtle usually comes out in the event of darkness and starts ascending across the beach area in search of a suitable nesting zone. Once she finalizes her nesting site (dark and quiet), with the help of her four flippers, she starts digging into a body pit. The moment she feels that she can’t go beyond, she stops her digging there and starts with her contraction process. This accounts for 1 to 4 eggs per succession of her contraction phase. As soon as her clutching process is complete, she makes use of her rear flippers to close her nest in a reverse direction to what she did while digging the pit.

Question 4

How many eggs do sea turtles lay?

Accepted Answer

Number of eggs laid off by a hatching sea turtle differs in accordance with the species. According to the researcher’s studies, sea turtles are potent enough to lay around 110 eggs in a single nest. This turns around to an average between 2 to 8 sessions of their nesting period (hatching period). Flatback turtles lay off the smallest clutches (group of eggs produced by a single female sea turtle during one nesting period) approximating the total egg count of 50 eggs per clutch. Hawksbill are known to lay off the largest clutches with a whopping count of 200 eggs per nest.

Question 5

What do sea turtle eggs look like?

Accepted Answer

Sea turtles resemble the size and shape of ping-pong balls, which have got a unique soft shell covering. Usually, the eggs of the sea turtles are spherical in their appearance; however, they might sometimes appear as misshaped. Often, the misshaped varieties are adjoined or elongated with depositions of calcium strands. Some species of sea turtles are known to lay small infertile egg varieties. In contrast, others are known to possess only albumin (egg white). The leatherback species of sea turtles can lay their infertile eggs in every clutch they visit, whereas the other species lay them infrequently.

Question 6

How deep can sea turtles dive?

Accepted Answer

The diving depth of sea turtles varies in accordance with their types and species. While the hard-shelled sea turtle species can dive up to a depth of a few shallow meters, the leatherbacks can dive beyond 1000 meters. The considerable variation in leatherback diving is attributed to their unique morphology.