Be a Good Navigator and Stay Calm Under Pressure

Scientists recognise seven species of marine turtles.  They are Hawksbill Turtles, Loggerhead Turtles, Leatherback Turtles, Olive ridley Turtles, Green Turtles, Flatback Turtles, and Kemp’s ridley Turtles. Six of these are threatened with extinction, and there is not enough information on the flatback to know how at risk they are. It is illegal to touch or harass sea turtles.  They are all protected by the Endangered Species Act. 

When sea turtles are active, they must swim to the ocean surface to breathe every few minutes. They breathe air but they have the ability to stay underwater for hours at a time. They drop their metabolism, reduce their heart rate and oxygen consumption, allowing them to stay underwater for as long as two hours without breathing. Most sea turtles spend their entire life at sea and only return to nesting beaches to lay eggs. 

Unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their flippers and head into their shells. In the water, their rear flippers are used as rudders for steering. Their streamlined shells and large paddle-shaped flippers make them very agile and graceful swimmers. 

Sea turtles can sleep at the surface while in deep water or on the bottom wedged under rocks in waters near the shore.  Many divers have seen green turtles sleeping under ledges in reefs and rocks.  

A sea turtle is not an aggressive animal at all. Sea turtles are calm creatures if we let them enjoy their own company.  If you get too close to one, it will feel threatened and will try to bite you. A sea turtle bite is extremely rare and generally not dangerous.  Turtles don’t have any teeth at all but they have a beak.  Carnivorous turtles can crush the shells of their prey with their strong jaw muscles and hard beak. Baby turtles have something called an egg-tooth, or caruncle, but it is not really a tooth.

Female sea turtles have tears streaming down their faces when they are onshore laying eggs.  They are not crying because of emotions.  They are trying to regulate the salt they have taken in from drinking ocean water.  The mothers have salt glands in their heads and the tears are a way to get rid of the excess salt.  

Adult sea turtles have a few predators. Tiger sharks are known for eating sea turtles. Killer whales have been known to prey on leatherback turtles. Other predators prey on eggs and hatchlings. Sea turtles are masters at eluding sharks but even when bitten it does not always end in disaster.  A sea turtle can recover quite well from a shark’s attack. The greatest threat to most sea turtles is incidental capture by fishing gear.  This threat is increasing as fishing activity expands. 

See turtles live a long time and have similar life spans to humans.  Most marine turtles take 20 to 30 years to mature. After its death, the age of a turtle can be determined by examining the arm bone.  The humerus bone shows growth rings that enable scientists to calculate the turtle’s age.  

These are the sayings on the bookmark called Advice from a Sea Turtle.

• Swim with the current

• Be a good navigator

• Stay calm under pressure

• Be well travelled

• Think long term

• Age gracefully

• Spend time at the beach!

Here are my comments about each of these sayings.

• Swim with the current - Take action - start swimming.  Let current (momentum) keep you moving forward.

• Be a good navigator - Have a plan and follow it.  Navigate your way toward your goals.

• Stay calm under pressure - Stay calm.  Take a deep breath and continue on even under pressure.

• Be well travelled - I think this applies to me!  I share my travels to over 75 countries in my Travelling Tuesdays book. 🙂 

• Think long term - set long term goals and then break them down into smaller steps 

• Age gracefully - keep a positive attitude as you get older and hopefully wiser

• Spend time at the beach! - Take time to relax and enjoy some fun time.

Have a great day everyone.  Stay calm under pressure and navigate your way towards your long term goals.

# living life abundantly   # published author    # travelling tuesdays