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Meet the sea turtle
Sea turtles imprint on the magnetic signature of their birth beach and navigate thousands of kilometres back to it to nest.
🏡 Tropical and temperate oceans; nesting on sandy beaches.🍽️ Jellyfish, seagrass, sponges or crabs depending on the species.⏳ 50–100 years.🛡️ Six of the seven species are threatened, from plastic, fishing nets, lost beaches and warming sand.
Friends and family
Mostly solitary, but some species nest in huge synchronised arrivals.
Mothers lay eggs and leave; hatchlings make the dash to the sea alone.
How they talk
Hatchlings make sounds inside the eggs to hatch together.
How clever are they?
Turtles navigate using magnetic fields, currents and smell.
What they feel
Turtles have clear preferences for particular feeding grounds they return to for decades.
Superpower: Magnetic memory
They remember the magnetic 'address' of the beach where they hatched.
🤓 Did you know?
- Nest temperature decides whether hatchlings are male or female.
- Sea turtles navigate using the Earth's magnetic field.
- Turtles can live for over 80 years.
Living alongside people
Turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish — keeping plastic out of the sea really helps.