Do you know these facts about Sea Turtles?
- They think jellyfish are delicious.
Leatherbacks and hawkbill turtles feed on jellyfish and keep their populations in check. Plastic looks like jellyfish when it’s floating in the water and that’s why so many turtles die from ingesting plastic—they were going for a tasty snack.
- 為什麼海龜會吃塑膠袋？
海龜選擇吃塑膠袋，不是因為海裡沒東西吃，而是塑膠聞起來太香了！
美國佛羅里達大學曾經做過一個研究，在實驗中，海龜被裝在水箱內，接著研究人員在水面上方製造各種味道，很意外的是，海龜對乾淨的塑膠無動於衷，卻在聞到浸泡過海水的塑膠後興奮的把頭探出水面，甚至比聞到正常食物時反應還激烈？
原來塑膠在海洋漂浮一陣子後會開始釋出一種化學物質，漂浮久了，微生物、藻類還附著在狀似水母的塑膠袋上，對海龜來說就像是一種加菜的概念，除了綠蠵龜吃素之外，大部分海龜都是肉食性的，水母是牠們的最愛，於是海龜就這樣水母、塑膠傻傻分不清楚，將不該吃的塑膠給吞下肚了。事實上不只海龜，海鳥、魚也都是塑膠苦主，被塑膠神秘的香氣所欺騙。
- They’re the oceans’ lawnmowers.
Green sea turtles have a more plant-based diet and eat seagrass. By keeping seagrass short, they prevent it from getting tall and harming other marine creatures.
- 海洋的割草機
海龜在海洋的生態系統中，擔當著重要角色。如果沒有海龜吃掉海草，海草會長得很高，沉積物遮擋陽光，更散播病菌。此外，海草很快便被綠海龜消化，變成糞肥，為棲息在海草附近的動植物提供養份。
- They cannot retract into their shell like other turtles.
Since they don’t have to protect themselves from predators for most of their life on water, sea turtles cannot retract their flippers and head into their shells. Their anatomy makes them more agile when under the sea but highly vulnerable when nesting and hatching.
- 海龜為什麼不能縮進殼裡？
海龜無法把頭和四肢縮進龜殼裡，這是海龜與烏龜、陸龜的一大區別。
如我們所知，陸地上的許多烏龜和陸龜都具有將頭伸入體內的能力。當長期在海裡生活的海龜，它們的外殼不再像陸龜那樣呈拱形，而是變得扁平了，可以幫助他們更快，更輕鬆地在海洋中移動。它們的腿也比陸龜更長，並且進化了槳狀鰭狀肢。不過，這種變化導致海龜殼內沒有太多的空間來讓它們縮回四肢和頭部。
- Temperature dictates the sex of baby turtles.
Warmer nests lead to more females and cooler ones lead to more males—which is why climate change could drastically affect their populations by creating too many females and too few males to match them for reproduction.
- 為什麼這些海龜有99%轉變為雌性？
近年來因為全球暖化、氣溫上升的關係，導致海龜性別比例大失衡，雌性海龜數量激增，目前已有證據顯示澳洲綠蠵龜的雌性與雄性比例為 116:1，這也讓海龜的生存是越來越困難。
