Sea Turtle Facts | Facts about Sea Turtles

Can animals sense Earth's magnetic field?

Some animals, including migrating birds and sea turtles, can sense Earth's magnetic field and use it like a built-in compass.

There are seven species of sea turtles.

The temperature of the sand decides whether baby sea turtles hatch male or female. Warmer nests produce more females.

Female sea turtles often return to nest on the same beach where they hatched, possibly using Earth's magnetic field to navigate.

The leatherback is the largest sea turtle, and it feeds mainly on jellyfish.

Sea turtles can't pull their heads and flippers into their shells like land turtles can.

Sea turtles appear to cry because they release extra salt through glands near their eyes.

Only about 1 in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings is estimated to survive to adulthood.

Traditional "tortoiseshell" products came from the shells of hawksbill sea turtles.

Archelon was a prehistoric sea turtle that grew to about 15 feet long.

A tracked leatherback sea turtle swam more than 12,000 miles across the Pacific.