Interesting Facts About Sea Turtles

1. A turtle’s bones are fused to their shells. So cartoons with the turtle running out of its shell is practically impossible
2. Only 1 in 1000 baby turtles become adult turtles
3. Just like us, turtles need to breathe air although they spend a large portion of time submerged. Their lungs (yes, they have lungs and not gills) have adapted to permit rapid exchange of oxygen and avoid trapping other gases during deep dives (lucky them). So we’d never find a narc-ed turtle but turtles do drown still! The level of activity underwater determines the amount of time that they’re able to stay submerged. So if they’re feeding/fining they will need to go up for air every 5-7mins. If they’re making babies, 1-3mins. If they’re sleeping, however, they can stay submerged for hours.
   
4. The temperature during incubation determines the gender of the baby turtles. The higher the temperature, the more females there will be in that brood of eggs. A definitive fact that women are the hotter sex. Haha.
5. An average lifespan of turtles is about 80-100 years
6. Out of the 7 species  of turtles in the world, the 2 common turtles that we find in our waters is the green turtle and the hawksbill turtle.
7. Males have longer, thicker tails because that’s where they hide their dingdangs in. the male reproductive organ is found at the base of the tail, hence the needed length. Some species also have longer curved hind claws which will aid in the grasping of females during mating.

That’s all folks, now lets all go have some turtle soup. Hurhurhur..

*Article by written by Divemaster Gloria Ngoi, edited by Divemaster Grace Loo