How sea turtles grow into adults

How sea turtles grow into adults

First a 20 year old female turtle lays between 50-200 eggs on the beach, and if they survive, will too lay their eggs here. She digs a hole where she lays the eggs and covers them with sand, she then crawls away into the water. The white leathery eggs are approximately the size of a ping pong ball. After about 6 weeks the eggs begin to hatch but sadly 20% of these will be left behind, and never hatch.  The baby turtles are an average size of a human palm. Next they rush to the sea with rubbish, birds, crabs and holes to stop them in their path, before they even started. 50% of these turtles (so 40% of the hatched eggs) reach this fate. Finally the sea turtle reaches the sea and looks for hiding places like seaweed. There are many dangers in the sea for sea turtles such as waves, whales, sharks, dolphins and sea birds for when they come up for air. 50% of babies that do make it into the sea, die from these animals and objects.   As our little friends get older, they become not so little, and have less dangers. In about 10 years, a turtle the size of a dinner plate, can grow to the size of a dinner table. I bet some of you wish you could grow like that.At approximately  the age of 20, they are able to begin breeding, after doing so they swim to the beach, starting the cycle all over again. Only 10% of these creatures make it to this stage.