Flat+Back+Turtle

= Flatback Turtle =

**Class**: Reptilia
 * Order**:Testudines
 * Family**: Cheloniidae

__Endangered Species Act__ Year Assesed: 1996 The Justification as to why Flatback Turtles are put on the endangered list is because they are threatened by enviromental pollution, caught diseases caused by bacteria, being eaten by pedators such as foxes, feral dogs and pigs, lost of habitat, and accidental death such as being caught in fisher nets.

__Location of Ecosystem__ > __Physical Habitat Descriptions__ __Migration Patterns and Survival Trends__ __Flatback Appearence__ Flatback Sea Turtles are unique in their appearance because their shell is flat, rather than having an arch. They can weigh around 200 pounds and are over three feet in length as an adult. Their coloring is olive-gray and they have only one claw on their flipper.
 * The flatback turtle is usually found in the Pacific Ocean.
 * Ocean's Temperature 15-30 Latitude 25-20
 * Ocean's Salinity 37-33 PPT
 * Pacific can go as far as 4000 miles
 * Contains the deepest ocean trenches. The deepest is located in the Phillipines, Mindanao trench, that is 6.5 miles deep
 * The perimeter of the Pacific Ocean is surrounded with volcanoes from Alaska to Russia. This is known as "The Ring of Fire" because it holds 75% of the world's volcanoes.
 * Tides in the Northern Hemisphere move clockwise and tides moves counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. North currents run up to 9000 miles from Panama to the Philippines. When the Japan current ( North Current) passes through the cold waters of the Artic, fogs and storms occur. The southern current passes along the coast of S. America which benefits small fish with cold mineraled water, and then supports the larger fish and seabirds with the small fish. In the Pacific Ocean, the warm water rises above the cold water causing the sea-level to increase and temperature to become warmer. The sudden change in temperature causes a different pattern of winds. Warmer temperatures of water can decrease the food supply that can seriously effect the food chain. [[image:http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0006/7269/green_turtle_mig_routes.gif width="525" height="379" align="center"]]
 * Flatback turtles are only found on the continental shelf of Australia. Although they feed around Papua New Guinea and Indonesia as well as within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, they nest only in Australia. Hatchling flatback turtles are unique in that they do not have an oceanic pelagic phase, rather they are believed to inhabit inshore areas of clear reefal waters. Flatback turtles inhabit subtidal soft-bottomed habitats of the continental shelf and feed primarily on benthic soft-bodied invertebrates (soft corals, sea pens, holothurians), and jellyfish. Numbers in the east coast population in Queensland appear to be stable.Tag returns up to 1300 km between nesting and foraging areas have established movement between Australia and Indonesia (southern Irian Jaya).
 * All known breeding sites of the flatback turtle are in Australia. Breeding is centred in the southern Great Barrier Reef around Peak, Wild Duck, Curtis and Facing Islands. However, low density nesting by flatbacks occurs on many mainland beaches and offshore islands north of Gladstone. The largest amount of nesting occurs on Crab Island in western Torres Strait. Whilst trends in population numbers of breeding flatback turtles are generally uncertain, their numbers are thought to be relatively stable on the Australian east coast including the Great Barrier Reef.
 * It is said that the population is decreasing based on the numbers they do have(10,000 - 20,000).

__Reproduction__
 * Flatbacks lay approximately 50 eggs per nest under the sand and it takes 55 days to hatch. Less than half of theses eggs dont live to see their adulthood cosidering once they hatch, they have to run quickly to the ocean and avoid predators, such as alligators and seabirds, who are awaiting them. Total population figures are often unknown because juvenile and male sea turtles do not come ashore and are difficult to count.
 * As soon as the young turtles swim in the ocean, they are on their own to swim through the currents and find food.



Animal Anatomy and Physiolog __Food Chain__
 * Females can weigh from 70-80 kg and their shell can be 85-95 centimeters in length.
 * The head has a single pair of prefrontal scales.
 * Flattened shell without ridges and has large, non-overlapping, scutes (scales) present with only 4 lateral scutes.
 * The carapace (shell) is either round or oval.
 * Adult turtles have an olive grey carapace, flippers and head, and their plastron is white.
 * The carapace has upturned edges and is covered by a thin skin.
 * One pair of long prefrontal scutes between their eyes
 * Shark beaks, that of birds.
 * No teeth, therefore they are Herbivores.
 * Flatbacks were once placed in the same genus as Green Sea Turtles.
 * Fish eat the algea off the turtles shell
 * Seagrass, marine invertebrates (such as mollusks, jellyfish and shrimp), or soft-bodied creatures are eaten by the Flatbacks.
 * Flatbacks are eaten by the shraks and alligators.

__Economic Importance__
 * Provide both sea and beach nutrients and helps maintain the balance of marine vegetation.

__Threats/ Reasons for Endangerment__
 * Human harvesting of turtles and their eggs.
 * Destruction of nesting habitats.
 * Commercial fisheries who use longline fishing practices or gill nets and do not use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDS),
 * Pollution affecting nesting habitats and/or species: such as entanglement in marine debris; plastic debris, and commercial and industrial ocean water pollution from oil spills and chemical waste.
 * Global Warming.

__Conservation Efforts__
 * State Governments are managing fisheries in Australia to reduce the threat of bycatch.
 * A network of communities are trying to band ghost nets from beaches.
 * Habitat protection by creating certain barriers that will not allow non-marine life to enter.
 * Climate change impacts are being monitored through a DEWHA initiative to record sand temperatures for major rookeries for each genetic stock.

__Solutions__
 * My first solution is that the Flatback Turtle needs almost the same help as all other endangered animals and that tells me that if people all work for protection of an animal, than it may contribute to many other animals as well.
 * My second solution is that we really do not know much of the flatback turtle. If we tried harder to know more about them, then we will understand their habits and prevent certain dangerous positions that may come upon them.
 * My last solution is that the Flatback turtles are the coolest turtles and mostly my new favorite kind!

__Citations__

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