Celebrate World Sea Turtle Day
Saturday June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day! A couple of weeks ago we celebrated World Turtle Day. Basically, a turtle lovers dream month.
And, if you haven't figured it out by now.... we're crazy about turtles!
Did you see our latest turtle phone cases?
They're just darling.
They originally started out as a temporary shop item, but have been so popular that they're here to stay!
We donate 5% of the turtle case sales to adopting, rescuing, and caring for turtles!
If you follow us on Instagram, we had a whole day dedicated to sharing turtle facts. It was so fun that I want to share a few more.
Here in North America we have several different types of sea turtles with most of them nesting on the east coast.
- Loggerhead
- Green
- Leatherback
- Hawksbill
- Olive Ridley
- Kemp's Ridley
In the summer, female sea turtles return to the beaches they hatched from to nest. They dig down into the sand to lay their eggs which takes a couple of hours. Once they've laid their eggs they head back out to sea.
Sea turtles can lay up to 100 eggs, and they hatch in about 60 days. One of the interesting things about turtles, crocodiles, and other reptiles is the temperature of the sand determines the sex.
If the sand is warmer, they're female. If the sand is cooler, they're male. As temperatures are rising due to climate change, this can seriously affect the population of these creatures.
Once the sea turtles hatch they make their way towards the ocean!
Here are a few things you can do to help the little guys out:
- Don't disturb nests. This one should be pretty obvious... don't touch the nests!
- Make a clear path. During the summer/prime sea turtle nesting time, make race to the ocean easy. Fill in any major holes and knock down sandcastles so you don't block the baby turtles paths.
- Turn off the lights. If you're staying in a beach front property, turn the lights off. The artificial light can confuse the sea turtles that hatch at night.
- Pick up trash. Even if it's not your own trash. Do your best to keep the area clean. Over 1 million sea creatures are affected by marine plastic. Do your part to help them out.
We love turtles and hope you do too!