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Female Sea Turtle Nests
The mother Sea Turtle slowly crawls up on the beach from the ocean. After carefully choosing a place, she begins to build a nest for her eggs. -
Female Sea Turtle Lays Eggs
After digging a nest for her eggs, the mom sea turtle will begin to lay them. -
Female Sea Turtle Leaves
Once the female Sea Turtle lays her eggs, she will leave the beach and return to the ocean. From there the female turtle will return to the feeding area. -
Sea Turtle Eggs Hatch
The Sea Turtle eggs hatch. The baby sea turtles dig themselves out of their nest and move as fast as they can toward the ocean. They try to avoid predators such as sea gulls but sadly, many aren't very lucky. -
Baby Sea Turtles travel to Feeding Grounds
The baby Sea Turtles that made it into the ocean begin to swim towards the feeding area. These are called the Lost Years because many of these Sea Turtles don't ever reach this area. This is due to the fact that they have many predators in the ocean. -
Sea Turtle Reaches the Feeding Area
After swimming for many months, the Sea Turtle finally reaches the reaches the coastal feeding area (the Caribean). The Sea Turtle has grown on this journey. -
Breeding Migration
The Sea Turtles begin their migrations back to their breeding grounds. -
The Sea Turtles Mate
The Sea Turtles mate. They reproduce by internal fertilization. After they mate the male Sea Turtle will return to the feeding area (the Caribean) while the female will return to her breeding grounds. Usually the female Sea Turtles will return to the same beach each year. -
Female Returning to Nesting Grounds
The female Sea Turtle returns to her nesting grounds (Florida) which completes the Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle.