Sea turtles have long been endangered or threatened and there are only seven species of sea turtles left in the world, because of hunting and pollution. However the population of sea turtles just exploded at San Diego's SeaWorld.
Approximately 82 eggs hatched in October. The last successful hatching took place at SeaWorld in 2003 but there were only 21 sea turtles. Park staff had incubated the eggs to try and increase the eggs chances of hatching and they were successful.
Well this time around the Park Staff decided not to incubate them and let nature do its thing. The baby sea turtles hatched on Shipwreck Beach without any assistance from park staff. The turtles hatched on October 5 from ping pong sized eggs. The babies have been steadily growing and will be on display at the park before the end of the year.
Since so many eggs hatched this year at SeaWorld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will determine whether the new turtles stay at SeaWorld and if the turtles will be allowed to mate again next year. There are already 30 adult sea turtles at the park including three green females and one male. These adults range in age between 40 and 50 but they generally live to be over 100 years.
These turtles are in their prime for reproduction which means the park doesn't know if these baby turtles are from the same mother or many. All three females had buried eggs in the sand on the beach so in order to determine who the mother is, the baby sea turtles will be undergoing genetic testing. Staff will also be digging up Shipwreck Beach in order to see how many eggs failed to hatch.
Not much is known about sea turtles but experts know they mate in the water, then go up onto the sand. While on the sand the female will dig three different holes in order to fool predators but they end up laying their eggs in only one hole.
The nest in the sand generally holds between 100 and 120 eggs. Then the eggs incubate in the sand for three months. Depending on how warm or cold the sand is will determine the sex of each baby. The babies when they hatch only weigh a few grams but can reach 250 pounds by the age of 20. The babies live on squid, krill, shrimp, and special pellets provided by the staff.
Even though there are only seven kinds of sea turtles and they are all endangered or threatened; these babies will help them make a rebound. Since humans are the biggest problem for this species it will take a lot in order to be removed from the endangered list but sea turtles are gradually making their way back.
Tags: 81 sea turtles, baby sea turtles, marine animals, sea turtles, seaworld, wildlife conservation, working with wildlife
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