Photo from WWF.org
In honor of World Sea Turtle Day, we thought we’d share some facts this week that show just how amazing these creatures are.
Did you know?
- Sea turtles are an ancient species. Scientists estimate that they have been swimming around for 110 million years, making them as old as dinosaurs.
- Even centuries ago, sea turtles roamed our oceans by the millions.
- In the last 100 years, however, their numbers have been greatly reduced. Today, all seven sea turtle species are on the endangered list, including the six species found in U.S. waters — green, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and olive ridley — along with the flatback turtle, which is only found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
- There are approximately 50,000 sea turtles in Florida, making our state the most important nesting area in the United States.
