Sea Turtles of Ghana
WILDSEAS
.ORG
Colouring &
Activity Book
SEA TURTLE & SHARK
C O N S E R VAT I O N
About Wildseas
Wildseas is a voluntary organisation that was established in response to
witnessing the widespread destruction and uncontrolled exploitation of
our marine environment that takes place everyday.
Covering over 70% of the planet, the oceans provide the majority of our
oxygen, are the planets largest carbon sink, regulate temperatures and
control climates worldwide. The oceans are what gives life and without
living oceans we would have no life on land.
While this destruction is indiscriminate and affects all species we are aware
that in our capacity as a small organisation we unfortunately do not have
the ability or resources to protect all species and therefore made the
decision to concentrate our efforts primarily on two species, sea turtles
and sharks, we also focus on other species from time to time.
Our campaigns involve raising awareness through talks and the distribution
of fact sheets about the decimitation of shark populations worldwide and
sea turtle nesting beach protection and scientific monitoring programs.
We receive no State funding from any State or any Government body nor
do we want any funding from these sources as it commits us to working to
their agenda and removes our impartiality and freedom.
This activity and colouring book may be copied and reproduced in whole without charge
subject to no alterations being made.
Some Information About Sea Turtles
Sea turtles have been roaming our seas for around 100 million years.
Originally from the land these air breathing reptiles migrated to the sea and
slowly adapted their land features to suit their water based lives, over time
their legs transformed into aerodynamic flippers and their shells became
more streamlined making their journey through the water more efficient.
These days there are seven species of sea turtles known to inhabit our seas
and oceans. These are Leatherback, Loggerhead, Green, Hawksbill, Olive
Ridley, Kemps Ridley and the Flatback. Of the seven species six have hard
shells, known as the carapace, while the largest of the sea turtles, the
Leatherback, has a soft leathery shell.
Unlike land turtles and tortoises sea turtles do not have the ability to
retract their limbs into their shells for protection from predators. Despite
this sea turtles have survived while the giant terrestrial turtles, just like the
dinosaurs, have become extinct. However, despite their aquatic adaptations
sea turtles surface to breathe air just like terrestrial turtles.
Once they hatch from their nests, normally under the cover of darkness,
sea turtles make their way to the sea which will be their home for life, male
sea turtles will never venture onto dry land again and the only time females
will come ashore will be to lay eggs, in this respect they are still tied to the
land they left so long ago.
Modern Threats to Sea Turtles
Sea turtles are still hunted around the world for their meat and shells.
A real threat to future turtle populations is the collection of their eggs
for food and the misconception in some parts of the world that they are
an aphrodisiac. Turtles had previously been hunted sustainably for many
centuries but modern fishing methods and other threats have caused their
populations to decline completely in the last 50 to 100 years.
Many thousands of turtles are caught each year as ‘by-catch’ in other
fisheries industries both by nets and longlines. As they cannot surface to
breathe once they are trapped they slowly drown. Many also fall victim to
propeller strikes from boats. Many fishermen kill sea turtles in the belief
that are depriving them of fish.This simply is not the case. Sea turtles, along
with many other predators are needed to keep the balance of the oceans
healthy, if the oceans go too far out of balance then all fish stocks will
collapse, leaving nothing for anyone.
Sea turtles often mistake discarded plastic bags for jellyfish (a large part of
their diet, especially for Leatherbacks) and end up choking on them or
having their intestines blocked so they can no longer eat or digest any food.
The problem of widespread pollution of the seas through oil spills,
chemical dumping and rubbish dumping, especially plastics, also poses a
serious threat to their survival.
Sea turtle hatchlings emerging on beaches often mistake terrestrial lights
for the moon and consequently move away from the sea and go inland
where they either die or are eaten by predators. Sea turtles come ashore
to nest on beaches and mother sea turtles return to nest in the same area,
and usually the same beach, where they were born. Many of these nesting
beaches are now being developed by people, destroying and removing
nesting grounds for future generations of sea turtles.
Good for Sea Turtles
A turtle excluder device (TED), it lets turtles caught in shrimp nets escape
without causing them any harm.
Bad for Sea Turtles
A fishing longline. These longlines catch many species that they do not
target.The unwanted species are thrown away dead.
The Leatherback
Dermochelys coriacea
They have leathery thin skin, scuteless
black carapace with five distinct and
prominent longitudinal ridges, coloration
black with white spots, carapace length to
about 180cm, weight up to 900kg, found in
all oceans except Arctic and Antarctic,
temperate or tropical. Their main diet is
jellyfish, crabs and other fish.Average nest
size is 85 - 90 eggs. The leatherback is
both the biggest and deepest diving of the
sea turtles.
LEATHERBACK
The Olive Ridley
Lepidochelys olivacea
The Olive Ridley has a hard carapace with
seven lateral scutes, coloration olivegreen, maximum carapace length to about
72cm, weight up to about 43kg, found in
Atlantic, Indian and tropical Pacific oceans.
Their main diet is clams, crabs, jellyfish and
snails, they also eat some algae. Average
nest size is anywhere between 50 and 200
eggs.The Olive Ridley is a frequent visitor
to the shores of Ghana.
OLIVE RIDLEY
The Green Turtle
Chelonia mydas
Head small and round, hard carapace with
four lateral scutes, coloration mainly light
to dark brown but can be shaded with
olive, maximum carapace length to about
122cm, weight up to about 204kg, found
throughout tropical and sub-tropical
Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Their
main diet is sea grass (turtle grass) and
rooted algae. Their average nest size is
100 - 110 eggs.They are named the green
turtle for the green colored fat that is
underneath their shell that was used in
making turtle soup.
GREEN TURTLE
The Hawksbill
Eretmochelys imbricata
Head long and narrow with pointed beak,
hard carapace with four lateral scutes,
coloration mainly dark amber with brown
or black streaks, maximum carapace
length to about 89cm, weight up to about
74kg, found mainly along coral reefs in
tropical oceans.Their main diet is sponges.
Average nest size is 90 - 115 eggs. They
are endangered because people used their
shells to make jewelry. They got their
name because their pointed beak looks
like a birds beak and they like to eat fish,
crabs and snails.
HAWKSBILL
The Loggerhead
Caretta caretta
Head very large with strong crushing jaw,
hard carapace with 5 lateral scutes,
coloration reddish brown, the maximum
carapace length to about 124cm, weight
up to about 200kg, found in estuaries, on
the continental shelf and pelagic (open)
ocean. Their main diet consists of crabs,
molluscs, assorted invertebrates and sea
pens. Their average nest size is between
80 and 120 eggs. Nowadays not nearly as
many loggerheads nest on Gahnian shores
as did many years ago due to egg taking
and using the mothers for meat.
LOGGERHEAD
How You Can Help Sea Turtles
• Report any stranded or washed up Sea Turtle (dead or alive) to your
local authority or resort manager
• Boycott hotels and resorts at nesting beaches that don’t turn their beach
lights down during the local nesting season
• Inform family and friends about the plight of the Sea Turtles and the
effects of longlining
• Do not use powered watercraft or jet skis near nesting beaches during
the nesting season
• Do not buy any turtle or tortoiseshell products
• Bring home all rubbish from the beach as this can get washed out to sea
• Do not buy property at unethical developments around nesting beaches
• Petition your local public representative about the destructive effects of
longline fisheries
If You See a Sea Turtle Nesting
•
•
•
•
•
Do not disturb her or she will leave without nesting!
If your sighting is during the day, inform your resort manager
Turn off your torch light immediately
Never shine a torch directly on a turtle, especially not into their eyes
Do not take any photographs until a guide or resort manager tells you it
is ok to do so
• Don’t take photographs until the turtle has finished laying eggs
• Stand well back from the turtle until she has begun laying her eggs
• When she has started the laying process, you can stand nearer but only
on either side or behind her
Good and Bad for Sea Turtles
Below is a selection of items a sea turtle may come across in its everyday
life. Put a tick through each thing you think is good and an x through those
things you think are bad for sea turtles:
From the Nest to the Sea
Once the mother turtle has made her nest using her flippers on the beach
and laid her soft leathery eggs, she covers up the nest again with her
flippers and goes back out to sea. That is the last contact the mother has
with her eggs.
Under the surface in the nest heat from the sun warms the sand and helps
the eggs to develop over about the next 60 days when the hatchlings will
be ready to come out. If the nest is really warm most of the babys will be
female but if the nest is not too warm then it will be mostly males.
Once the hatchlings are ready to come out they bite at their shells using a
point on their beak, this point will disappear early in their lives and is only
designed for opening the egg.
It is a big job to climb 30cm up through the sand and for that reason almost
all the babyss hatch at the same time so they can work together pushing
away the sand from above them to below them and raising themselves out
of the nest.
If it is bright sunlight and very warm the hatchlings wait under the sand
near the top of the nest. They only have a small reserve of liquid in their
bodies and need to save that for getting to the sea when they will start
drinking lots of water.When night falls they make their way through the top
sand onto the beach.
Once they are on the beach they rush for the sea using the moon as their
guide because it reflects off the waters surface. Once in the water they
start swimming away from the shore out into the open sea popping their
little heads up for air every few seconds.They will not be seen again for 9
or 10 years.
A Sea Turtles Life
After about 10 years what were once little hatchlings only 5 or 6cm long
start to come back in from the open ocean to continue their development
closer to land. By now they are the size of a dinner plate. For the next few
years they will live pretty quiet lives continuing to grow into adults.
After some time they will then start their migrations again in search of
food. Most sea turtles like only warm waters but because of it’s thick layer
of fat under its soft skin the Leatherback can venture into colder waters in
search of food. Because of this the Leatherback undertakes the longest
migrations both north / south and east / west.
Between all this hard work of looking for food sea turtles like to take a rest
now and again. If the weather is nice they can be found basking at the
surface of the water warming themselves in the sunshine.
It is estimated that for every 1,000 hatchlings bore only one will live ling
enough to reproduce themselves. For the lucky ones the time comes in
their lives after 25 or 30 years that they want to pass on their genes and
have hatchlings of their own. Now they travel not only for food but also to
find a partner with whom they can mate. Finding a mate is something that
happens close to land, this ensures that the female does not have to make
long migrations with the fertilized eggs inside her.
Now it is time for mother turtle to venture back onto land and lay her eggs
like she has done for millions of years. She will leave the beach again after
nesting to let nature take its course once again and hopefully her own
hatchlings will come into the world shortly afterwards.
Hungry Harry
Can you help Hungry Harry, the Hawksbill we met earlier in the book, to
find his way through the maze so that he doesn’t get caught by the fishing
boat but gets the tasty crab he wants instead?
Fun Sea Turtle Facts
• The Leatherback is the biggest of the sea turtles
• Sea turtles can be found all over the world except in really cold waters
• Sea turtles come to the surface of the water to breathe
• They can hold their breath underwater for up to 5 hours
• Sea turtles spend between 94% and 97% of their time underwater
• Male sea turtles have much bigger tails than females
• Sea turtles have been around for over 100 million years
• The green turtle eats sea grass and small plants which gives it the
green colour in its fat layers
• Sea turtles lay eggs in the sand on the beach
• Female adults return to the beach on which they were born to lay
their own eggs
• They use their front flippers to move and their back flippers to steer
• Sea turtles can live to be 80 - 100 years old
• The Flatback sea turtle only lives on the north coast of Australia
• Sea turtles do not have any teeth
• The Kemp’s Ridley is the smallest of the sea turtles
• A mother sea turtle can spend up to 3 hours making her nest and
laying her eggs
• Sea turtles are under threat from fisheries and pollution
Fun Quiz
Q1.True or false: sea turtles have teeth
A1. _________________________________________________________
Q2.Where do sea turtles lay their eggs?
A2. _________________________________________________________
Q3.What do sea turtles use their back flippers for?
A3. _________________________________________________________
Q4.What set turtle lives on the north coast of Australia?
A4. _________________________________________________________
Q5.True or false: the Leatherback is the biggest of the sea turtles
A5. _________________________________________________________
Q6.To what age can sea turtles live?
A6. _________________________________________________________
Q7.Which sea turtle eats sea grass and small plants?
A7. _________________________________________________________
Q8.True or false: sea turtles have been around for about 100 million years
A8. _________________________________________________________
Q9.Where do sea turtles go to breathe?
A9. _________________________________________________________
Q10.True or false: sea turtles are threatened by fisheries and pollution
A10. ________________________________________________________
Glossary
Carapace
Clutch
Endangered
Extinct
Flipper Tag
Habitat
Hatchling
Longline
Plastron
Satellite
Scute
Species
Stranding
TED
Threatened
Tracks
Top portion of the shell.
A nest of eggs.
There are not many left.The species is in danger of
becoming extinct.
No more of a species left.
A metal tag put on the flipper, like an ear piercing.
The type of environment in which a creature normally
lives.
A baby sea turtle, just after it hatches.
A fishing line anything from 1km to 100kms long with
fishing hooks suspended off it every few metres.
Underside of the turtles shell.
An object that orbits the earth, in this case they are man
made, and function as relay stations for tracking tags.
The “scales” or divisions on a turtles head or shell.
The basic unit of living things, consisting of a group of
individuals which all look more or less alike and which
can all breed with each other to produce another
generation of similar creatures.
When an animal that normally lives in the water is
washed up on the beach. For a sea turtle, this is anytime
it might be found on the beach except for when the
mother is nesting or the hatchlings are headed to sea.
Turtle Excluder Device. A trap door in a shrimp net
which will allow the sea turtles an escape route.
The species is in decline.This is one step above being
considered endangered.
The pattern left in the sand by a turtle.
Sea Turtles
of
Ghana
WILDSEAS
.ORG
Produced and funded by:
SEA TURTLE & SHARK
C O N S E R VAT I O N
Marine Conservation Through Education and Action