(Post from long ago that started the Animal posts. Way back in 2022 as well.)
So, I was in a classroom and noticed a poster. I’d seen it before multiple times, but a new thought clicked in my head:
There are only 7 species of sea turtles?
I always thought there were more than that, but I only remembered a few. No, there are only 7 and nearly all of them are endangered. 3 are critical! Primarily due to what humans are doing such as fisheries, pollution, and overhunting. So, I thought I would post a picture of each one. I hope I got one of each since you can’t really tell if the Image Search was being honest or not.
If you want to read up on sea turtles then HERE is the World Wildlife Federation site.
Oh, here’s the NOAA Fisheries site that shows what you can do to help sea turtles.
Flatback Sea Turtle
Green Sea Turtle
Hawksbill sea turtle
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
Legends of Windemere 
I didn’t know there were so few species of sea turtle. I’ve seen probably four of them’ We have very active turtle protection along the NC coast, which is a very long and enticing place for our turtles to lay their eggs.
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Omg..
I love this. My dream is to retire to NC or SC and volunteer with a ses turtle organization. The last 4 years we took a summer vacation to Hilton Head and the amount of support there for sea turtles what keeps calling me back!
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We go tot he beach in May or June and always see turtle nest marked off with tape. The most fun is being there when the babies hatch!
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Maybe two or three at zoos for me. Not sure if we have any around Long Island.
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LoggerheadS, Kemp’s ridley, green and leatherbacks regularly inhabit Long Island’s waters.
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Maybe I’ll see if there’s any places for me to see them. Probably far out east.
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Love this post. Turtles are my absolute favorite. I hope to be able to volunteer my time to an organization that helps protect them and their nests when ai retire.
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Glad you enjoyed it. The turtle volunteer organization sounds so cool. Definitely something to look forward to.
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The turtles are getting help. The Texas coast has volunteer workers who collect eggs and the return the hatchling back to the Gulf
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Very cool. I need to see if there are groups like that around here. Saw a taped off area at a coastal park last weekend and there was a sign about turtle eggs. Weird because the only turtles I’ve seen there were the red-eared sliders.
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Maybe they do the same thing for them.
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Maybe. They’re an invasive species though. All are descended from released pets.
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That’s like the parakeet population of Austin. Very strange.
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We have something like that around here too. One of the parks I go to has monk parakeets. The story is that a crate carrying them broke at JFK Airport and they flew to Long Island where they flourished. Really weird seeing them hang around the ducks and gulls.
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What a wonderful educational post, Charles! I love that you started with a classroom moment, noticing something you’d seen many times before and suddenly really seeing it. That only 7 species exist and nearly all are endangered is heartbreaking, but your visual guide and those resource links give people actual ways to help. The fact that readers are already commenting about turtle volunteer opportunities shows how this kind of awareness-raising truly sparks action. Beautiful work.
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Thanks. This post was one of my earlier animal ones from way back. I wasn’t sure how it would go since this is mostly an author blog.
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The hawksbill has such stylish colors!
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It is really pretty.
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Love this, Charles!
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Thanks.
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Such interesting creatures.
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Definitely. Fun to watch too.
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