I was so excited to see the sea turtles, and it was even better to see them up close and in-person! Even though we weren't allowed to touch the turtles, it was still so cool to see them up close. They even came up to the surface of the water to breath air. I felt excited, happy and appreciative to be able to see such a beautiful creature up close.
While Loggerhead Turtles are found worldwide in subtropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the turtles we saw were from the Mediterranean Sea.
Sea turtles such as the Loggerhead have a strong beak-like mouth which they use to eat with, and a hard shell which is their armour against predators. Sea turtles have lungs, not gills like fish, so they need to come up to the surface to breathe. Typically, Loggerhead Sea Turtles can spend 20 to 40 minutes under water while eating and for up to several hours when sleeping.
By far the largest threat to sea turtles is us - humans! There are a few different ways humans impact sea turtles: when we don't throw out our trash, especially plastic trash, in the proper way, it can enter the ocean where turtles can mistake the plastic trash for food and eat it, which can cause a fake feeling of fullness. Think about if you ate plastic garbage instead of food: you might feel full because there is something in your stomach, but you wouldn't get the nutrients or vitamins from the food which you need to be healthy.
