Sea Turtles: An Extraordinary Natural History of Some Uncommon TurtlesStreamlined and equipped with flippers, sea turtles seem uniquely adapted for water-yet remain firmly attached to land, where the females lay their eggs each year. They sport the many colors of the rainbow, range in weight from 100 to 1,300 pounds, and figure in the mythology and folklore of cultures around the world. And still, they currently risk extinction. In this book, marine biologist Blair Ernest Witherington, who has devoted decades to these ancient creatures, offers readers an in-depth look into their mysterious world. Accompanied by exquisite photographs, his descriptions comprise a personal introduction to these strangely graceful marine reptiles. Detailed, lively, and up-to-date imagery tells the story of sea turtles’ distant origins, their specialized form and undersea challenges, senses and life cycle, world voyages and navigational talents—and their ecological roles. The most comprehensive overview of sea turtles to date, this book portrays each of the seven species in close-up, offering information on appearance, distribution, movements, life history, reproduction, diet, unique traits, and conservation. |
Contents
Sea Turtles | 7 |
Form and Function | 15 |
Life Cycle and Life History | 27 |
From Sea to Land to Sea | 35 |
World Voyagers | 43 |
The Role of Sea Turtles | 57 |
The Species | 65 |
Sea Turtles and Humans | 125 |
Recommended Reading | 132 |
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Common terms and phrases
abundance Adult female adulthood algae animals Archelon arribada Ascension Ascension Island Atlantic barnacles beak biologists black turtle bone breath carapace Caribbean Cayman clutch coloration common names Conservation coral Costa Rica crabs crawl diet dive egg chamber feed fishes flatback turtles flatbacks Florida foraging fore-flippers front flippers green turtles grow Gulf habitat hard-shelled sea turtles harvest hatchlings Hawksbill Turtle hawksbill's hawksbills head Island jaws Kemp's ridley larger leatherback turtle leatherbacks little turtle lives loggerhead sea turtles magnetic Major Nesting Beaches male marine Mexico migrate natal beach Nesting occurs nesting season olive ridleys open ocean Ostional Pacific plastron populations predators reach rear flippers reef reproductive sand Sargassum scales scutes sea turtle species sea turtle's seabottom seagrass sense shallow waters shell length shell scutes skin sponges strokes surface swimming tagged tiny tropics Turtle Excluder Device turtle hatchlings turtle nesting turtle's shell Unique Traits vertebrates