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The Reproduction of sea turtles
Do you know that a new-born sea turtle will never meet its mother in its whole life? Hence, sea turtles have to be independent enough in each stage of their lives since they are in the stage of eggs. However, this is not the merely point extremely different from our human beings. The process of sea turtles’ reproduction will let your jaw drop. The reproduction of sea turtles can be divided into the following three steps.
Mating activity is the first step not only for the majority of animal’s reproduction but also for sea turtles. The activity can take place both on the beach or under water. First, the males will court a female in the way of nuzzling or biting her body. Next, if the female doesn’t resist or flee from the male, the male will move forward to the female’s shell and grip her top shell with his front flippers. Then, in order to copulate, the male will fold his tail under the female’s shell. After succeeding the mating activity, the female will nest and lay eggs on the beach several times in each two weeks. What’s more, most of the sea turtles will start their mating activities as the weather gradually becomes warmer because the temperature around 28 Celsius will be better for the next process, nesting behavior.
Nesting Behavior is a prominent mission of the female sea turtles throughout the whole process. Usually, the female will go to the warmest and sandy beach to hatch the eggs alone at night. First thing first, female sea turtles will slither over the high tide line and use her front flippers to dig out a “body pit” in the proper position. Next, they will dig the egg cavity by their hind flippers. According to the Seaworld Parks and Entertainment website (n.d.), female sea turtles will distribute 50 to 200 vulnerable eggs into the egg cavity. Nevertheless, due to the thick and clear mucus’ protection, the egg won’t easily get broken. After completing the nesting process, the female will cover up the nest. Then, the female sea turtles will never come back again.
Incubating period is the most important part during the whole process of sea turtles’ reproduction. Generally, incubation takes around 45 to 70 days in summer. Due to the leave of female sea turtles, the eggs will be incubated by the sandy nests. To your surprise, the gender and development pace of the sea turtles depend on the temperature of the nest. The hotter the nests are, the more likely the nests produce the higher ratio of males. Additionally, the Sea Turtle Conservancy Organization (n.d.) claims that “the hotter the sand surrounding the nest, the faster the embryos will develop.” After around 45 to 70 days, the sea turtles will come out of the eggs and crawl back to the ocean.
The reproduction of sea turtles must go through the three steps above, mating activity, nesting behavior and incubating period. Sea turtles’ reproduction process isn’t complex contrary to other animals’. Additionally, according to the incubation process, it completely presents that animals are strongly associated with nature. Plus, the phenomenon that they won’t meet their mothers in their whole life is eye-opening knowledge for us.
Reference
SEAWORLD PARKS＆ENTERTAINMENT. (N/D). Reproduction.
Retrieved from:
National Ocean Service. (2018). How Do Sea Turtles Hatch?
Retrieved from: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/turtle-hatch.html?fbclid=IwAR0n52p4l4tAcipspOK3T7wo9nVxQDjlXTkp95Nih3M_czc2El2fvu6wcew
SEE TURTLE ORG. (N/D). Life Cycle of A Sea Turtle.
Retrieved from:
https://www.seeturtles.org/sea-turtle-life-cycle
SEA TURTLE CONSEVANCY. (N/D). Information About Sea Turtles: General Behavior.
Retrieved from:
https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-general-behavior/