Why do they matter?

Sea turtles are keystone species. They play an important role in the preservation and maintenance of natural aquatic environments as well as terrestrial environments like beaches. They are considered keystone species because they help minimize the number of dominant species within the environment. They help prevent overgrowth but consuming prey population that could greatly reduce diversity and the survival hood of other plants or animals.




Sea turtles can be herbivorous- consuming algae and sea grass, Carnivorous- consuming fish, sponges, shellfish, shrimp and crab, or Omnivorous- consumers of both plants and animals. The shape of their beak is an indicator of what kind of consumer they are:

Green and Black- finely serrated teeth

Loggerheads and Ridley’s-jaws crushing and grinding

Hawksbill- narrow and acute

Leatherbacks-scissor like

Shrimp     mollusks     jellyfish     sea cucumber 

Image from http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/SeaTurtle/images/diet.GIF

"So if sea turtles go extinct, there would be a serious decline in sea grass beds and a decline in all the other species dependent upon the grass beds for survival. All parts of an ecosystem are important, if you lose one, the rest will eventually follow.”

http://www.cccturtle.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=whycareaboutseaturtles