Photo from EcoWatch
Did you know?
- Sea turtles provide natural ecological control over jellyfish populations. Leatherback sea turtles eat only jellyfish, tunicates, and other soft-bodied animals. They eat their body weight (on average, 800 to 900 pounds) in jellyfish every day. Sadly, plastic resembles jellyfish floating in the water, so it is becoming more and more common for many of these amazing creatures to die from ingesting plastic.
- They double as the ocean’s lawnmowers. Green sea turtles eat sawgrass. Similar to regular grass, seagrass needs to be kept short to ensure it stays healthy and continues to grow. If it gets too long, it can grow into blades, becoming harmful to other marine life.
- Loggerhead sea turtles feed on crustaceans. Their jaw muscles are powerful enough to crush a conch shell with ease.
- Hawksbill sea turtles eat coral reef sponges. For most sea creatures, these sponges are toxic due to the glass-like spines they contain. Hawksbills are immune to this, though, making their food very accessible due to lack of competition. An adult hawksbill sea turtle eats an average of 1,200 pounds of sponges a year.
