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Profile: Turtles
Turtles are prehistoric reptiles that have lived on our planet for over 200 million years. They already shared it with the first dinosaurs. Today there are over 300 species of turtles in seas, rivers and on land. Unlike fish, turtles need to breathe the air to breathe. A remarkable characteristic of turtles is that the females swim thousands of kilometres across the oceans to lay their eggs on the same beach where they were born.
There are seven species of sea turtles - and all are highly endangered. They are hunted for their beautiful shells and eggs, and often get caught in fishing nets or plastic rubbish.
For turtles that could not survive in the wild, many of our aquariums have become new homes. Perhaps you will meet one of them on your next visit.
SEA LIFE has extensive experience in rescuing and caring for injured sea turtles. The SEA LIFE Aquariums in the USA have committed to jointly raise US$50,000 to build new tanks for the Sea Turtle Centre in Georgia (USA). Learn more about our conservation projects here.
The shell
of a sea turtle consists of more than 60 bones. By comparison, an adult human has about 200 bones.
Orientation
Sea turtles use a very special transport system, they orient themselves on their journeys along invisible lines: the magnetic field of the earth.
Living space
Turtles live on all continents and in all seas, except Antarctica - there it would be too cold for them.
