Ridley
Ridley forms two geographic forms – Pacific and Atlantic. They are distributed on the Atlantic coast of France, England, Spain, in the southeast of Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific Ocean – from Australia and Chile to Japan and California. This is a relatively small turtle, reaching a length of 80 cm and up to 45 kg in weight. She has a small head, two claws on her paws. Ridley’s armor shields are practically smooth and round. In the morning, the turtle is looking for food (it feeds mainly on crabs, mollusks, jellyfish, snails and aquatic vegetation). In the daytime, the turtle drifts on the water surface, basking in the sun. When danger arises, the turtle dives to the depths to break away from persecution. Adult males, in the event of an attack, defend themselves by waving their front paws. Sexual maturity in Ridley occurs when it reaches a length of about 60 cm. Mating takes place on the wild beaches of North America in late spring – early summer. The female lays eggs twice a season. Sperm is stored in the female ridley’s tract throughout the breeding season. During these periods, females carry out long migrations to the places of oviposition. Curiously, the ridley returns to laying in the place where she herself was born. There can be 300 or more eggs in a clutch, but on average their number is about 110 pieces. The incubation period lasts about 50 days. The eggs look like table tennis balls. The sex of turtles is determined by the temperature of the soil in which the eggs are located. The female buries the eggs themselves in the soil to a depth of about 35 cm, then she buries and rams the masonry so that no one finds her, and then returns back to the sea. The whole process for the female takes about an hour. This species of turtles is on the verge of extinction and is listed in the International Red Book. Since 1987, when the extraction of turtle eggs was legalized in Costa Rica, about three million eggs have been sold annually by local residents. Rideley eggs are prized for their skin and meat. In the last thirty years, the population of this species of turtle has declined significantly. Another reason for the decline in ridley numbers is nesting sites. For these purposes, only five beaches in the world are currently suitable.
Other names
Olive sea, Atlantic, Lepidochelys olivacea
Inhabitation
This species is distributed on the Atlantic coasts of Spain, France, England, Colombia, Southeast Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean – from California and Japan to Australia and Chile.
You can meet this turtle in the South Atlantic waters, as well as in the tropics and subtropics of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between 40 degrees south and north latitude. The most famous turtle beach is located in the Bay of Bengal in the Bhitar Kanika Reserve (India, Orissa).
Lives in coastal waters. However, most of all she prefers the ocean itself. Can dive to a depth of 150 meters.
The ridley spends almost its entire life in coastal waters, not moving further than 15 km from them, although there have been cases of encounters with olive turtles in the open ocean.
Description
The olive turtle belongs to the large sea turtles with a shell length of up to 55-75 cm and a body weight of 45 kg, which, however, is not considered large for sea turtles.
This species of turtles has a rounded shell, up to 9 costal shields, the color of the back is grayish-olive. This is a relatively small turtle – its shell is on average 80 cm long. The average weight of this turtle is 35-45 kg. The scutes are almost smooth and round. The head is small. On the paws one or two claws. In the male, the tail protrudes from under the shell, but in the female it is under the shell. The thickness of the shell itself is quite small, he himself is a little heart-shaped.
Newborn turtles are born black, by adolescence
lighten to charcoal grey.
Morning time is set aside for feeding, in the daytime turtles expose their shells to sunlight, drifting on the water surface. At such a time, quite a lot of individuals can gather in one place. Most often this takes place in cool waters. In warm shallow waters, the turtle does not require the sun’s rays to tan, so such drifts, and many individuals gather on them, occur in cool waters.
In times of danger (including in a collision with a person), the ridley prefers to dive to the depths in order to break away from the pursuit. Once on land, adult males brandish their front paws in defense.
On land, wild pigs, snakes and opossums, which love to feast on turtle eggs, pose a threat to ridleys.
Food
Ridley prefers to feed on the shallows in the morning. Basically, its diet consists of mollusks, crabs and aquatic vegetation. It also eats snails and jellyfish. Curious, willing to try everything new – some turtles found plastic bags and other garbage in their stomachs.
In the absence of other food resources, the turtle feeds on benthos.
Reproduction
The age when the turtle begins to give birth to its own kind is not precisely defined, but this does not happen before the turtle reaches a length of 60 cm. Mating itself takes place on the beaches in late spring – early summer in North America. By the way, Ridleys do not differ in monogamous behavior.
This turtle lays eggs annually, twice a season. The male’s sperm is stored in the female’s tract throughout the season to fertilize the eggs. During the breeding season, ridleys migrate to the places of oviposition. This turtle does its laying in the same way where it was born itself, returning to this place, finding its way to it by smells. The breeding season lasts from August to January. Ridley lays eggs in the first or last quarter of the moon. A clutch may contain 300 or more eggs, but the average number of eggs is about 110. The incubation period lasts about 50 days. The eggs of the female Ridley are buried in the soil at a depth of about 35 cm, and after the laying is done, the female returns to the sea. The process of masonry itself takes about an hour for the turtle. Ridley can repeat such masonry every month during the breeding season. The eggs of this turtle in appearance resemble ping-pong balls.
The sex of turtles depends on the temperature of the soil.
Like other sea turtles, ridley forms two geographic forms – Pacific and Atlantic. As for the Atlantic ridley, it is considered one of the most mysterious sea turtles. At one time, it was even suggested that this turtle was just a cross between other turtles. And all because no one has ever seen her digging a nest in the sand and laying an egg in it. Among the turtle catchers of the Gulf of Mexico, there was a widespread belief that this turtle was not capable of breeding, and that this kind of mule was a hybrid animal. It was said that “ridleys are made when a loggerhead plays with a green turtle.” There were also such assumptions as the fact that this turtle is not oviparous, but viviparous. The secret has been out for a long time. First, a female Ridley was caught full of fertilized eggs. Accordingly, it became clear that she was oviparous and certainly not a cross. However, the nesting sites were never found. And quite by accident a film was discovered – the cameraman filmed the exit of ridleys to the beach for laying eggs. Thousands of turtles came to a secluded beach on the coast of Costa Rica – Ostional in the light of the sun, and began to dig nests. They dug so hard that the sand under their paws flew up in fountains. Turtles were in a hurry, stuffed and interfered with each other. One tortoise would bury the newly laid eggs, while the other tortoise would scatter them around to make their clutch. There were such a large number of turtles, and they lay so densely on the beach that you could walk on them like on a cobblestone pavement for a kilometer and a half. Thus, it was finally established that ridleys are not much different from other sea turtles. Except perhaps only the one that lays eggs in the sunlight, and not like all other sea turtles in the light of the moon.
And in 1966, the first issue of the “Journal of the International Society of Turtle Lovers” was published, which talked about the places where the Atlantic ridley lays eggs – on the territories of the Mexican coast. In order to expand and preserve the nesting area of the turtle, scientists organized Operation Padre – namely, the transportation of ridley eggs to the shores of remote Padre Island was organized. In just one year, more than twenty thousand eggs were transported and about two hundred nests were laid in a coastal place.
Content
In captivity, cannibalism can occur, so turtles need to be kept separately.
Additionally
In 1987, the extraction of turtle eggs was legalized in Costa Rica. In this regard, an average of three million eggs were sold annually by local residents each season. The most striking thing is that this number includes only those eggs that were laid by the turtle in the first 36 hours, since the next clutches destroy the previous ones – and this is about twenty-seven million eggs. Over the past thirty years, olive turtle populations have declined significantly as a result of hunting for females that come to the beaches to lay their eggs. Eggs are harvested for their skin and meat. Also, the number of turtles is limited by the space on which the ridley can lay eggs – only five beaches in the world are suitable for this purpose.
The olive ridley turtle, along with other sea turtles, is considered a marine predator because fishermen often find these turtles in their nets. The local population is engaged in fishing for eggs of this species both in the territories of South Asia and in Central America (on the west coast). In some countries, laws are being prepared to limit the extraction of turtles or to protect them. For example, in the United States, turtle hunting is limited.
In 2009, there was an interesting case in the Atlantic when, during the breeding season, one olive turtle, for some unknown reason, did not swim to wild beaches, but swam to the city beach, with sun loungers, awnings and music. Paying no attention to the rest, the turtle began the process of laying. First, she slowly dug a hole for masonry, laid eggs in it – 86 pieces – just as slowly, then covered the hole with sand from above and carefully tamped the masonry so that no one would find it. And then she went back to the sea. Thus, for about two months on the beach, side by side with vacationers and under the supervision of zoologists, the eggs lay. As a result, 79 baby turtles hatched almost simultaneously and, with all their little strength, hurried to overcome the most dangerous stretch of their lives in their lives – several tens of meters of land to the water. However, everything went smoothly, without incident, and soon the kids were in the water.
Ridley is listed in the International Red Book, protected by WWF.
Sources of
http://www.floranimal.ru
http://www.cherepahi.ru
http://ours-nature.ru
http://www.apus.ru
