11 Reasons Why Sea Turtles are Superheroes!
Green Sea Turtle peeking out of a Sea Whip Coral at Wonderworld reef, Musandam, Oman. It was adopted and named “Freckle” by Vicki J. This juvenile is the first sea turtle in Oman to be tracked and studied by the Olive Ridley Project.
ROBERTA KRAVETEE, EDITOR
By Roberta Kravette
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated (4/2025) with new and revised (Sea Turtle Superhero) information.
Sea Turtles are Superheroes!
Sea Turtles! On land, they seem impossibly slow, bulky, awkward, and well … impossible. What are these ancient animals, lumbering up the beach, laying piles of vulnerable eggs in the sand, seemingly oblivious to onlookers or do-gooders, or predators or anything else, good for anyway?
You might be surprised!
Hawksbill Sea Turtles Help Save the Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs, already imperiled from pollution and climate change, can also be smothered by certain sponge species. Sea turtles to the rescue! Hawksbills eat those sponge species, about 1000 lbs per year, according to the Ocean Conservancy! Those sponges have toxic properties that do not bother the turtles, but would make a human very sick. In fact, they are the only sea turtles that can survive mainly on a diet of sponges.
Hawksbill Sea Turtle Fast Facts
Conservation Status: Critically Endangered. IUNC Criteria: 80% Population loss over the last 10 years or three generations.
Genus and Species: Eretmocheleys imbricate
Size: Average 2.5 ft, 200 lb, but can grow to 3ft and 300 lbs!
The natural beauty of their shells, made into jewelry and trinkets, has driven the Hawksbill Turtle to the Critically Endangered list. If it lives, this juvenile Hawksbill will grow to about 70 kg / 154 lbs and reach sexual maturity at about 40 years IMAGE: LAURA WHITELEY, THANKS TO THE OLIVE RIDLEY PROJECT
2. Leatherback Sea Turtles Control Jellyfish
The largest turtle on the planet, the Leatherback Sea Turtle, lacks the crushing plates of other sea turtles and relies on a diet of gelatinous jellyfish and salps - a LOT of them. According to Researchgate, about 261 - 664 jellyfish per day! Without Leatherbacks, jellyfish populations would explode, and since jellyfish eat larval fish, the fish population would crash, making swimming less pleasant and fishing and eating significantly more difficult.
Leatherback Sea Turtle Fast Facts
Conservation Status: Worldwide: Vulnerable The Northwest Atlantic sub-population is Endangered and declining. The population has declined by 50% over 10 years or the past three generations, according to Widecast.
Genus and Species: Dermochelys coriacea
Size: 5 to 6 feet and up to 1000+ lbs!
Morning on a beach in Costa Rica, nestling Leatherbacks Sea Turtle returns to the ocean under the watchful eye of THE LEATHERBACK TRUST. IMAGE: THE LEATHERBACK TRUST
3. For Healthy Sea Beds (and Vacation Beaches,) Bring on the Sea Turtles!
Sea turtles balance oceanic ecosystems in numerous ways. 1) Sea turtles eat seagrasses, keeping the beds neat and healthy. In places where sea turtle populations have significantly declined, old seagrass decomposes in place, encouraging algae, microorganisms, invertebrates, fungi, and slime mold. The water (and people) of Florida Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean all suffer the ill effects of sea turtle decline. 2) Sea Turtles (Leatherbacks) control bothersome jellyfish populations! (see #2)
Grazing sea turtles, like this Green Sea Turtle, keep sea grass beds healthy. Turtle-less sea grass beds form algae, fungi, slime mold, and other deterring elements. Where turtles have disappeared, the area’s economy suffers. Image: Kristina Loosen, Resident Biologist, Lhaviyni Atoll, THE OLIVE RIDLEY PROJECT IMAGE: Image; Zoe Cox, marine biologist for THE OLIVE RIDLEY PROJECT, an organization fighting ghost nets and saving sea turtles.
4. Protecting Small Fish & Resting Birds: Olive Ridley Sea Turtles
In the open ocean, when sea turtles (olive ridleys, especially) come to the surface to rest, seabirds, miles from shore, perch on their shells. Small fish gather under the resting sea turtle for protection from sharks.
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Fast Facts
Conservation Status: Vulnerable. The population has declined by 30 - 38% in the last century, according to NOAA. Mexico’s Pacific Coast breeding colony is listed Endangered, all other populations are listed Threatened.
Genus and Species: Lepidochelys olivacea
Size: The smallest sea turtle, the Olive Ridley grows up to 2 to 2.5 feet and weighs up to 100 lbs
5. Defense Against Storm Surge, Nesting Sea Turtles
Sea Turtle egg shells and unhatched eggs nourish dune vegetation like beach grass - imperative for stabilizing dunes. The roots of healthy beach grass help hold sand in place, and the grass-stabilized dunes help prevent damaging tide surges, especially vital with the oceans rising. Shorebirds will also eat unhatched sea turtle eggs, their - er - poop - which also helps to nurish dune grass.
Endangered Loggerhead juvenille, at adulthood it will reach up to 160 kg / 353 lbs. Loggerheads, thought to live between 47-67 years, spend their first 7-12 years in open water, finding their way to floating matts of usually sargassum. Adult dives have been recorded at over 7 hours, one of the longest of any marine vertebrate. IMAGE: THE OLIVE RIDLEY PROJECT
The Precarious Life of the Sea Turtle
6. Shark Snack: Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtles
Adult sea turtles also have their share of predators: Tiger sharks prefer green sea turtles, while Great Whites enjoy both the Green and Loggerhead sea turtles.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle Fast Facts
Conservation Status: Globally listed: Vulnerable. Subpopulations listed from Critically Endangered to Least Concern. In 1996, Loggerheads were Endangered worldwide, the population rise is attributable to conservation efforts and changes in the law. The IUNC notes, “Based on the present state of knowledge, all loggerhead subpopulations are in need of intensive conservation measures to improve or to maintain their current conservation status.
Genus and Species: Caretta caretta
Size: Loggerheads average 3ft (.9 m) and can weigh 300 lbs (136 kg)
A sea turtle hatchling’s world is filled with danger. A simple cup, carelessly left on a Fort Lauderdale, Florida beach, would have meant death for this hatchling had it not been found by a volunteer from BROWARD COUNTY SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION PROGRAM
7. On Land or in Water, Danger is Everywhere for Baby Sea Turtles:
A study of green sea turtles in Australia showed that 97% of the hatchlings were consumed within an hour of entering the water. On land, the hatchlings may look only snack size, but the eggs and hatchlings feed dozens of other species. Species as diverse as ants, vultures, herons, foxes, mongooses, and other small mammals all look to the hatchlings for their next meal.
Green Sea Turtle Facts
Conservation Status: Endangered
Genus and Species: Chelonia mydas
Size: Adult Green Sea Turtles range between 3 to 4 ft (83 to 114 cm) and weigh between 240 and 420 lbs ( 110-119 kg)
8. Sea Turtles and the Dangerous Path to Nesting
Individual females do not nest in consecutive years. When it is their time, they may migrate hundreds – even thousands of miles to find the right beach. Those miles are filled with fishing line that entangles and drowns thousands of sea turtles every year.
9. Climate Change Means More Female Sea Turtles
The warming climate means trouble for sea turtles. Warmer temperatures means fewer males. Why? Sand temperature decides the gender of sea turtles. Rising temperatures worldwide has led to hotter sand and significantly more males than females being born. At Ingram Island (Australia), a study of the Pacific Ocean’s largest and most important green sea turtle rookery revealed females are outnumbering males 116 to 1 or 99%
The sand temperature during incubation determines sea turtle gender. A study of hatchlings at the most important sea turtle rookery revealed 99% were female. That’s bad news for the continuation of the species - and others in the ecosystem. Remoras (Sukerfish) use Green Sea Turtles for protection. Image: Kristina Loosen, resident biologist, Lhaviyani Atoll THE OLIVE RIDELY PROJECT
Females Alone Cannot Create A Generation:
The very few adult male sea turtles, spread out over tens of thousands of miles of open ocean is bad news for females and worse news for the continuation of the sea turtle species. And this shrinking-male-population situation does not look as if it will slow down any time soon.
FLAT BACK SEA TURTLE FOUND ONLY IN THE SHALLOW WATERS OFF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA. THIS ONE IS NESTING ON GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND OFF QUEENSLAND COAST. SO LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE FLAT BACK THAT IT HAS NO IUCN RATING. FLAT BACK SEA TURTLES HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN IN OPEN OCEAN. IMAGE: WIKIPEDIA THROUGH PERMISSION OF ©GLADSTONE PORTS CORPORATION.
10. Your Dinner May Depend on a Sea Turtle
Last night, your dinner plate might have held a fish that spawned among the sea turtle-dependent coral reefs. Or one that relied on healthy, cropped seagrasses for nutrients and for keeping predators at bay. Sea turtles help both sea grass and coral reefs thrive. Sea turtles impact food availability for humans.
11. Where Sea Turtles Once Guided Sailors They Are Now Functionally Extinct
Well, according to historical logbooks, when Columbus was sailing around the Caribbean looking for his spice route, there were so many sea turtles that lost sailors could follow the sound of sea turtles migrating. Green Sea turtles are now ecologically extinct in the Caribbean.
There are many reasons for the worldwide decline of sea turtles, chemical poisoning, plastics and other pollution, habitat loss or capture in ghost nets or as fishing by-product, like this Loggerhead Sea Turtle. . We can help to save them before it is too late. IMAGE: THE OLIVE RIDLEY PROJECT
Sea turtles are Superheroes, and they don't even wear a cape! Image: The Green Turtle by Chu Hinh 1944, Blazing Comics
So, How Many Sea Turtles are Left?
No one knows – but far fewer than a decade ago. Sea turtles are going to need some super-powered help from us to survive into the future. We need sea turtles to keep our oceans and planet healthy. And that's one great reason to holiday/volunteer in some of the most beautiful places on Earth! Make sure your oceanside vacation helps protect all marine life.
Special Thanks to these superheroes
NY Marine Rescue Center
The Olive Ridley Project Fighting Ghost Nets and Saving Sea Turtles
Oceana Save the Ocean, Feed the World
The Leatherback Trust
The Broward County Sea Turtle Preservation Program
And so many others for the vital work each is doing to protect and preserve sea turtles and our oceans.