In fact, some fish species obtain their diet strictly from epibionts found on sea turtles. Apart from that, sea turtles provide an important food source for other organisms, especially in their early life stages.
Ants, crabs, rats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, feral cats, dogs, mongoose and vultures are known to dig up unhatched turtle eggs; the eggs are a nutrient-rich source of food. Juvenile turtles are a food source for various sea birds, fish and invertebrates. Adult sea turtles are preyed upon by sharks and killer whales.
Unhatched eggs and empty eggshells remaining inside nests on the beaches are a fertilizer for beach vegetation — they provide nutrition for plant growth with helps stabilize the shoreline as well as provide food for a variety of plant eating animals. We are updating our website so some pages might not display properly. Loggerhead Sea Turtle.
Classification: Reptile. Description Loggerheads are named for their relatively large heads, which support powerful jaws and enable them to feed on hard-shelled prey, such as whelks and conchs. Range The loggerhead sea turtle is a wide-ranging species, occurring throughout the temperate subtropical and tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
Diet Loggerheads are carnivores that eat crustaceans, fish , and other marine animals. Behavior Many people have witnessed female loggerheads appearing to cry. Life History Female loggerheads are thought to reach maturity at about 35 years of age. Conservation The loggerhead sea turtle was listed as threatened in under the Endangered Species Act and has received federal protection ever since. Fun Fact The loggerhead is the most common sea turtle in U. Donate Today.
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Read More. Learn More. The National Wildlife Federation Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. Over the past decades, there has been a decline in sea grass beds. This decline may be linked to the lower numbers of sea turtles.
Sea grass beds are important because they provide breeding and developmental grounds for many species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans. Without sea grass beds, many marine species humans harvest would be lost, as would the lower levels of the food chain. The reactions could result in many more marine species being lost and eventually impacting humans.
So if sea turtles go extinct, there would be a serious decline in sea grass beds and a decline in all the other species dependent upon the grass beds for survival. All parts of an ecosystem are important, if you lose one, the rest will eventually follow. Beaches and dune systems do not get very many nutrients during the year, so very little vegetation grows on the dunes and no vegetation grows on the beach itself. This is because sand does not hold nutrients very well.
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