They Swim With Their Homes On Their Backs/Update 7/10/09

If you're like me your knowledge of sea turtles comes from those exciting scenes in "Finding Nemo," where the surfer dude turtle cruising the EAC (East Australian Current) marvels at his rambunctious young son, Squirt.

But sea turtles have an even more fascinating life than even Hollywood could imagine.

Consider these facts:

> Female loggerhead sea turtles lay an average of 120 eggs in each nest and may nest up to 7 times in one season.

> When resting, sea turtles can hold their breath for several hours.

> Sea Turtles reach sexual maturity around 25 years.

> Sea turtles swim speeds that can reach up to 35 mph.

> Female sea turtles return to the same beaches where they were born to lay their nests.

For information about sea turtles in the Carolina Beach and Kure Beach area, please visit www.seaturtleproject.org

To see a sea turtle "boil" (hatchlings), please visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO1zV4cYFbo

JULY 10, 2009, SEA TURTLE UPDATE -- On Wednesday, July 8, a rare leatherback sea turtle plodded onto the sands of Carolina Beach to lay her eggs. The endangered leatherback, whose shell is not hard like a loggerhead's, is about half the size of a Volkswagon Beetle, according to Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project Volunteer Coordinator Nancy Busovne. "Since our project began in the 80s, we've never seen evidence of a leatherback. This is truly remarkable."