Magnificent sea turtles

There are seven species of sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea) that inhabit the oceans all around the world except the Arctic ocean. These species are: flatback turtle (which is only found in the seas around Autralia), green sea turtle, leatherback turtle, hawksbill, kemp's ridley turtle, olive ridley turtle and the loggerhead turtle. The leatherback turtle is the only turtle that doesn't have a hard shell, but has bony plates beneath it's leathery skin. This is also the largest species.

Different species of turtles are distinguished by some anatomical aspects like the number and shape of the plates on their shell, the scales on their head and the form and number of plates on their belly also called the plastron.

Sea turtles live most of their lives underneath the seas, but the have to surface once and a while to breathe. During routine activity loggerhead and green sea turtles can dive for 4 to 5 minutes and only come up to breathe for just a few seconds.