Marine reptiles
Silo of sea turtles and other reptiles that returned to the sea.
🌊 0–1280 m (known range of the family)
Harmless
Leatherback turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
Leatherback turtle
The largest sea turtle and the deepest-diving reptile known, able to keep its body warmer than the icy deep water thanks to a unique soft, cartilaginous shell.
🌊 0–1280 m
- ⚡ The deepest-diving reptile known, beyond 1,000 m
- ⚡ Can keep its body warmer than the icy water thanks to a unique vascular system
Harmless
Green sea turtle
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtle
The only sea turtle that is strictly herbivorous as an adult, the green turtle can travel thousands of kilometers just to return and nest on the exact beach where it hatched.
🌊 0–40 m
- ⚡ An internal magnetic 'compass' that lets it find its way back to its birth beach after years at sea
- ⚡ The only sea turtle that is strictly vegetarian as an adult, playing a key role in keeping the seagrass meadows it grazes healthy
Low danger
Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta caretta
Loggerhead sea turtle
With a massive head and jaws strong enough to crush a whole conch shell, this ocean globetrotter returns, decades later, to the exact beach where it hatched — guided by a built-in magnetic compass.
🌊 0–60 m
- ⚡ Senses Earth's magnetic field to find its way back to its natal beach after thousands of kilometers of migration
- ⚡ A jaw powerful enough to crush shellfish no other sea turtle species can access