Length: 6.5 feet Weight: up to 2,000 lbs. Lifespan: unknown Behavior: Lays appox. 100 eggs at 8-12 day intervals during their nesting season, usually Feb – Aug depending on location. Nest every 2 to 4 years. Conservation Status: Endangered

Leatherbacks are commonly known as pelagic (open ocean) animals, but they also forage in coastal waters. Leatherbacks are the most migratory and wide ranging of sea turtle species. Their front flippers don't have claws and their back flippers are paddle-shaped. Both of these are useful for long distance foraging migrations Leatherbacks have layers of oily connective tissue that make up their shell and unlike the other sea turtle species, they do not a beak like mouth. They have pointed tooth-like cusps and sharp-edged jaws , adapted for a diet of soft-bodied prey, such as jellyfish and salps.

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Length: 3 feet Weight: 250 lbs. Lifespan: unknown, but sexual maturity is thought be reached at 35 years old. Behavior: Nest from April to September, and usually three to five nests per season every 2 to 4 years. Conservation Status: Threatened.

Loggerheads were named for their relatively large heads. They have powerful jaws that allow them to feed on hard shelled prey like whelks and conch and other shellfish. They migrate between foraging areas and nesting areas, but stay along continental shelf waters and are the most abundant species found in U.S. coastal waters.

Length: 3 feet Weight: 300-350 lbs. Lifespan: unknown, but thought to reach sexual maturity around 20-50 years old. Behavior: Females return to the beaches they were born (natal beaches) to lay eggs every 2 to 4 years usually in the summer months. Conservation Status: Breeding populations are endangered, all other populations are threatened.

Green turtles are the largest of all the hard-shelled sea turtles. Green turtles are unique among the other sea turtles species because they eat only plants; they are herbivorous. Green turtles feed primarily on seagrasses and algae. Their name is thought to come from the greenish colored fat they get from their diet. They remain in coastal waters because of their feeding habits.

Length: 25 to 35 inches. Weight: 100-150 lbs. Lifespan: unknown Behavior: Females return to the beaches where they were born (natal beaches) to nest, which occurs every 2-3 years at night and approximately every 14-16 days during the nesting season. Usually nest on pocket beaches with little or no sand. Conservation Status: Critical

The Hawksbill gets it’s name from it’s tapered and beak like mouth. Hawksbill’s are usually found in the coral reef and they use their “hawksbill” to dig into holes in the reef to find sponges, their primary food source, and other small invertebrates. They are unique to sea turtles because they have 2 claws on each flipper and are known to have the same resting spot night after night.

Length: 35 inches. Weight: 200 lb.s Lifespan: unknown. Behavior:------------------------------- Conservation Status: Vulnerable.

The Flatback is endemic to the coast of Australia. Unlike other sea turtles, it has only 4 large scutes and a flat back. They eat soft bodied prey like jellyfish and sea cucumbers. The Flatback is interesting because it lays smaller nests with approximately only 50 eggs but the eggs are extremely large compared to the other sea turtles. Unlike the other sea turtles, there are 4 main breeding areas for the Flatback with each population using one and they nest at different times of the year.

Length: 24 to 28 inches. Weight: 80 to 100 lbs. Lifespan: Unknown. Behavior: Large groups of Kemp's Ridley’s gather off a particular nesting beach near Rancho Nuevo, Mexico. At regular intervals from April to June. Females come ashore in numbers that have reached in the thousands and nest in what is known as an "arribada," which means "arrival" in Spanish. It is unknown what triggers the arribada in females. They also nest more often than other sea turtles, usually once a year . Conservation Status: Critical

The Kemp’s Ridley is the smallest sea turtle. The males can be found in the Gulf of Mexico rarely leaving, while females only leave to nest but still stay relatively close to the Gulf of Mexico. They are critically endangered and are the most rare of all the sea turtles. They prefer shallow waters with sandy and muddy bottoms because their diet consists of crabs, fish, jellyfish and mollusks.

Length: 25 to 33 inches, Weight: 100 lbs. Lifespan: Unknown but reach sexually maturity at 15 years. Behavior: Large groups of Olive Ridley’s gather off a particular nesting beach Females come ashore in numbers that have reached in the thousands (as high at 398,000 females in one year) and nest in an arribada. It is unknown what triggers the arribada in females. They nest once a year, 2 times in a season. Conservation Status: Threatened.

The Olive Ridley is considered the most abundant of all the sea turtles. They are omnivores who’s powerful jaws allow them to eat crustaceans, fish and algae. They are pelagic animals but are coastal when it is time to nest. The Kemp’s and Olive Ridleys share the same rare nesting behavior, a behavior found only in the genus Lepidochelys.

Works Cited

• www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles

• http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/marine-turtles/flatback

• http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation