Endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

By: Sophia Sakopoulos & Isabelle SmithRobert Louis Stevenson Middle School

2nd Period4th Quarter

The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

Basic Facts Common name: Olive Ridley Scientific name: Lepidochelys Olivaceaf Named after it’s olive green shell Adults get to about 2 to 2.5 feet Adults weigh 77-100 pounds

Interesting Facts When they are born their shells are grey

they turn all green They have two visible claws on each

flipper They are related to the Kemp’s Ridley but

Olive Ridleys live in warm water They are the smallest sea turtles weighing

up to 100 pounds They usually live 50 years Males tails stick up behind their shells

Why Endangered? In India people are building a huge deep water

port and the mouth of the Dharma River The largest Olive Ridley nesting beach is there Every winter half a million of the turtles meet in

the shallow water then the females travel for the Arribada

For the first time in 2008 there were was no Arribada

Oil spills, people taking the eggs, litter, and artificial light are preventing the Olive Ridley sea turtles to survive

Human Impact Females and babies are disturbed by trash on nesting

beaches left by humans If a piece of trash is close enough to a female she will

return to the ocean and not nest Turtles die when they eat trash mistaking it for jellyfish Noise is bad and has the same effect Thousands of sea turtles get caught in fishing nets and die They are effected by artificial lights on beaches People illegally collect turtle eggs for food They are also hunted for meat, shells, and fat Propellers also hit sea turtles injuring them and making

them vulnerable to attack

Habitat They are often found in

coastal bays and estuaries They typically forge in

surface waters or dive into depths of 500ft on the bottom eating crustaceans

They live in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans

They like muddy or sandy bottoms where prey can be found

Mating and Birth Cycle Turtles don’t form couples Neither sex provide parenting after nesting The male only provides the sperm The female leaves the eggs once they are laid Females look for good genetic qualities in

males so their babies will be smart, tricky, sly, and brave

Females lay 50-100 eggs The eggs hatch 45-70 days after they are laid It takes them several day to dig themselves

out of the hole

Video http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=UhsxVpZb-cQ

Nesting One of the most extraordinary nesting in the

world is the Olive Ridley Large groups of turtles gather off shore then all

of the sudden thousands of female turtles come ashore and nest

The nesting is known as an Arribada During Arribada females come to lay eggs The nesting density is so high that females will

dig up old eggs to lay new ones No one knows what triggers and Arribada

Food Web

Algae

Small FishCrustaceansMollusks Jellyfish

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

Humans Sharks Whales Crocodiles

Olive Ridley’s Food Web

How We Can Help! We can not throw our trash into the

ocean Not go on nesting beaches We can turn off lights on the beach

because baby Olive Ridleys go back to the same beach and if there are lights it confuses them

Dogs dig up sea turtles eggs so keep your dogs off the beach

We Helped! We had a bake sale for the Olive Ridley sea

turtles. We made cupcakes, cookies, and lemonade! We made $42.25, but we were only there for one hour so we feel good about the amount. People were very interested about helping them in fact on girl screamed her car, “Look, they are helping sea turtles, I love turtles, rock on!”

Video of Other People Helping http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/

finder/marineturtles/marineturtles.html

Works- Cited

Caribbean Conservation Corporation. 5/10/2010. http://www.cccturtle.org/seturlteinformationphp?page=olive-ridley.

NOAA Fishers Office Of Protected Resources. 5/11/2010. http://www.hmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/oliveridley.htm

The Wild Foundation. 5/11/2010. http://www.wild.org/field-projects/endangered-olive-ridley-turtles/ Orits, Rudy M. et.al. “Predation Upon Olive Ridley Sea Turtles by the American Crocodile at Playa

Nancite, Costa Rica” June 28, 1997: 2-2

Sea World Sea Turtles. 5/12/2010. http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/seaturltes/stlongevity.html Oxford Journals. 5/13/2010. http://jhered.Oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/9212/2067 Means, Bruce D. “Sea Turtles.” World Book Advanced. World Book,2010.web. 14 May 2010 Olive Ridley Sea Turtle. National geographic. 5/17/2010.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/olive-ridley-sea-turtle Sea Turtle. Photograph. June 19,2007.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/553140408_fffa55f330.jpg Olive Ridley Sea Turtle Arribada. Photograph. October 5,2009.

http://www.qondio.com/img/images/files-4/15277.jpg Librahim, Mohamed.We Can Do It. Photograph. http://www.clker.com/clipart-24353.html

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Mr. Pham for

providing the computers and giving constructive criticism when we needed it most.

Also thanks to our moms Carolyn Duryea and Lisa Hinz for supplying the lemonade and baked goods for our stand!