Eleni Toto, DGHW Elementary School
Ocean County
Atlantic Green Turtle. Ocean County. Eleni Toto
Atlantic Green Sea Turtle
Whoosh! Whoosh! Hello, there! I'm Tatiana the turtle. In fact, I am an Atlantic green turtle. Here I swim in the ocean blue, but did I mention my family and I are threatened? That's because people kill us for our meat and eggs. Also, sometimes we get caught in fishing nets and drown. Our numbers are being reduced by boat propeller accidents, too. Do you want this to happen to me? No, that's what I thought.
Also the destruction of our nesting grounds by humans is horrible. My mother might have gone to one of those places to put more egg clutches in a hole and been unable to lay her eggs. Did you know female turtles can lay 100 to 200 eggs at a time?
Our habitat loss is bad too, people are polluting our water. It can kill the plants and grasses under water, and those are some of the things I eat. I also eat algae. We live in three places in our lives. That's because when we hatch, we are on high-energy beaches, usually on islands, where a deep nest can be dug above the high water line. Then, when we hatch we leave the beach, we move into convergence zones in the ocean water where we spend a certain length of time. When our carapaces reach a length of approximately 20 to 25 cm, then we leave and enter the benthic feeding grounds.
We need protection because my family and I really don't want to become extinct. So you can help by not throwing items into the water or by polluting the water. Next time you see a fisherman, you can tell him to be careful when he uses his fishing nets because one of my siblings could get caught. Just one little thing can make a big difference for me.
Eleni Toto
D.G.H.W Elementary School
New Egypt, NJ
Mrs. Garces