Of the world's seven species of sea turtles, four are protected and can be found on the French Atlantic coastline (Appendix I of CITES and Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention).
Living in all tropical and temperate waters of the globe, it is particularly affected by by-catch. It is the only species of turtle that can nest in temperate zones.
On our coasts, some young individuals strand in the winter period.
Conservation status: Vulnerable species according to the IUCN Red List Protection, CITES Appendix I and Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention.
She was named after Richard Kemp who identified her. It is the smallest species of sea turtle.
It uses a synchronised laying mode called “arribada”. Several hundred females come ashore to lay eggs at the same time and on the same beach.
Conservation status: Vulnerable species according to the IUCN Red List Protection, CITES Appendix I and Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention.
This turtle owes its name to the green colour of its fat linked to its herbivorous diet mainly made up of seaweed and marine plants. The shape of its beak is also rounded, which allows it to graze in underwater herbariums.
Conservation status: Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List Protection, CITES Appendix I and Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention.
The largest of all sea turtle species has very special characteristics.
Indeed, it has neither claws nor scales and its pseudo-shell looks like leather. Its mouth and oesophagus are lined with keratin spines, allowing it to tear its prey apart and expel swallowed seawater.
Conservation status: Vulnerable species according to the IUCN Red List Protection, CITES Appendix I and Appendices I and II of the Bonn Convention.e Bonn
About 220 million years ago, the ancestors of turtles appeared. Odontochelys roamed the coastal waters of eastern Asia, while Proganochelys developed in western Europe.
Odontochelys {1} had a jaw with teeth, its tail was very long and only its belly was protected by armour.
Proganochelys {2} had small teeth on the upper palate, its long spiny tail ended in a club and its body was entirely protected by a carapace. The spines on its neck, which provide protection, indicate that it could not fit its neck into its shell.
Turtles then evolved into two main groups: the ‘hidden neck’ turtles that could retract their necks into their shells and the ‘side-neck’ turtles that could not.
110 million years ago, they conquered the oceans. Sea turtles had very long fingers that allowed them to support a large web. The largest of them, Archelon, was about 4 metres long and weighed about 2 tonnes.
Four groups of sea turtles survived the great extinction 65 million years ago. Today, two groups are still present: the Dermochelyidae and the Cheloniidae.
Throughout their lives, marine turtles go through different stages where their feeding, habitat and behaviour change.
Apart from the moments of egg-laying and emergence which take place on land, marine turtles spend their time at sea migrating between feeding and breeding areas.
Discover their life cycle through the illustration below.
SyTurtles are revered by certain peoples as symbols of strength and longevity. And yet, they have long been exploited for their skin, their meat, their fat and their shells, making them particularly vulnerable and now putting them in real danger of extinction.
| On land | In the ocean | |
|---|---|---|
| Natural threats |
Predation (dogs, crabs, birds and insects) Natural phenomena (erosion and flooding) |
Carnivorous fish Destruction of habitats |
| Man-made threats |
Poaching Urbanization of beaches and sites nearby beaches Land pollution Human disturbances |
Accidental capture Chemincal Pollution (oil spills) Marine pollution (rubbish, plastic bags) Work (dredging and sand recovery) |
| On land | In the ocean |
|---|---|
| Strict legislation prohibiting international trade and poaching at the national level | Creation of marine parks and protected marine areas |
| Implementation of marine turtle restoration plans in certain sectors | Modification and improvement of fishing techniques |
| Raising awareness and education among locals and tourists | Learning techniques to resuscitate animals |
| Scientific programmes to better understand the behaviour of marine turtles | |
| Creation of care centres for sea turtles | |
| Development of hatcheries | |
| Monitoring and protection of laying sites |
