Green Sea Turtles

Green sea turtles are one of the oldest living things on earth. Ithas been here through the dinosaur times. It has lived on Earth for millions of years.Green sea turtles were once half of a dinosaur's body. Now they are smaller thanthey used to be.

Millions of green turtles once lived on earth. Now there are at least less than 1,000green sea turtles in the world. Hawaiian green sea turtles are commonly found inthe Hawaiian waters. It is hardly found in other bodies of water and other partsof the Pacific Ocean.

These precious creatures attract many people. They amaze people by their calmnessand movements. These animals are very calm, gentle, and harmless. They were neverknown to hurt anyone before. Green turtles are also known as the calm turtle.

Green sea turtles aren’t really green, they are brown. They are known as green turtlesbecause they eat green grass and the grass gives them fat. Their fat from the grassmakes some people hunt them for food. And the reptile skin and hard shell attractpeople who want more money. The turtle's skin and shell can make beautiful items.These items are used for trading. This is one of the reasons why these turtles arealmost gone.

Hunting turtles are now against the law. There’s a 1,000 dollar fine. It’s a crimeto hurt them. These turtles are under the Endangered Species list.

Life Cycle

The green sea turtle has hatched out of its egg. It has entered the world. Firstthing they do is to enter into the water. But before they do, they may get chasedby a big crab. It chases it for food. Some turtles turtles survive, but most don’t.Then they enter the water to explore their other new world. Suddenly they learnto use their flippers. They don’t really know how to hold their breath for a longtime. Every few seconds they come up for air. New turtles have good eyesight in thewater.

A few times, as they come up for air, they may get chased by aseagull. Every once in a while, within a group of turtles, one gets caught in a seaweedpatch. They get stuck for a few months. As the turtles grow, so do their shell. Onstrong currents the little turtles are not strong and heavy enough to go throughit, so they drift along with the current.

In a year they are able to hold their breath longer, go throughcurrents, swim four times faster, and grow swimming muscles. They don’t grow teethyet but they are able to eat seaweed. They spend two more months eating rich, wavysea grass.
Several months pass by and they become one of the biggest creatures in the sea. Seaturtles are mostly found sunbathing. They like to rest by floating for hours. Asthey rest other creatures rest with them.

A turtle is fully grown when it reaches to about three hundredpounds. Soon eggs from females start to produce. Part of being a turtle, is gettingcaught in nets and trying to survive.

As their journey ends they finally reach land. There they mateand make more turtles. Then their life cycle goes on.

What should we do to save green sea turtles and other endangeredspecies? It is hard to help them. In almost every country there is a law that youcan’t hunt these animals. and there is a $1,000 fine. Hawaii is one of the placeswhere many endangered species are found. Many of them are being hunted down. Theyare either caught in nets or traps.

These animals have help ,but not a lot. Groups all over the worldtry to save these animals from being harmed. Many of the animals have been saved.By knowing how many of these animals are still on Earth, they must put somethingon them to get the count of animals.

What can we do? I think to really help them we can have groupsof different ages to go places every other weekend and count how much are left. Thatway it makes it easier to tell whether they are not endangered or endangered. Peoplecan also have fund raiser to make/get better homes for these animals. Then afterthey are raised well and counted you can let them free.

Monk Seals used to live near the Mediterranean Sea and the CarribeanSea. The last recorded Carribean Monk Seal was recently spotted in 1952. The MonkSeals live approximately 30 years and can reach nine feet in length. Females weighup to 550 pounds, while smaller males weigh 375 pounds. Most Monk Seals are killedby sharks and eaten by other bigger fish. Some Seals are even killed by fishing netsthat are used to capture dolphins. Monk Seals don’t really have a home they justroam around in the water and hunt for food. They usually sleep on Sandy beaches.They spend time hunting for food for their young. Their major habit is sleeping andswimming in the water.

Monk seals are native to the Hawaiian islands that is why we musttake care of them. My report is about the monk seals and how they are killed. Italso talks about how the mothers give birth to their young, how they feed them, andhow they live on their own.

There were only three types of monk seals but now that the Caribbeanseals have died, there are only two types that exist. Four seals were born on theHawaiian Islands. Two births occurred on the North Shores of Kaua’i and Oahu.

When a pup seal is born, it is black in color and weighs about30 pounds. The pup’s velvety skin is loose and clods the body like an oversized coat.The mother seal will nurse her pup for 5 to 6 weeks. During the time, the motherseal is constantly at her newborn's side.When the mother is taking care of her pupand feeding him/her, she does not go out to feed herself. At the end of the nursingperiod, the depleted mother will leave her young and go out for other nutritionalneeds.

The baby seal is called a weaner. When the mother leaves the weaner,it is by that time fat with blubber. It should be able to live off of the food fora while but then must learn how to catch food on it’s own. Monk seals only feed atnight. They feed on fish, eels, octopus, and lobster. During the daytime they spendmost of their time sleeping. When sleeping, they may look lethargic, dead or evensick. When on land, seals should not be approached or disturbed so they may feedas they may during the night time.

Between March and July, female monk seals give birth. The weanerfeeds on the mother's milk for about 5 weeks. When the weaner is a couple days old,the mother will take it out for a swimming lesson. In the 1900’s monk seals werenear extinction, but the numbers slowly increased when they were fully protected.Now in the Hawaiian islands there are over 1,000 Hawaiian monk seals. The Hawaiianmonk seals like to remain on land and is one of the few mammals of Hawai’i that hasbeen extensively studied. Hawaiian monk seals are most abundant on Kure Atoll, Pearl,and Hermes Reef, Lisianski island, Laysan island, French Frigate Shoals, NeckerIslandand Gardener Pinnacles and Ninoa island. The monk seal is usually found in the northwesternislands.

What would you do if Hawai’i had nothing but a bunch of touristsand Hawaiian people? I would move to the mainland. People in the mainland think thatHawaii is basically known for the animals. Which to most people we are. But prettysoon we’re going to be known for the extinct islands. The Hawaiian monk seals aregetting to the point that when our grandchildren are born they won’t know what allthese animals are.They’re going to want to do research on them but they can’t becausethere is none. Most of the children in Hawaii study projects about endangered speciesbecause they would like to find out what they can do to help save them. Soon it willbe too late. There will be no Hawaiian animals. We do our best to see what we cando.

What can we do? I think we should have like a bay for differentendagered animals with fish. That way it will be like the ocean except only in abay. People can go to see how they’re doing. Sometimes people could take some monkseals out to sea to let it discover other parts of the ocean around the bay.