Caretta Caretta and Monachus MonachusAmanda Stefatou Marina Pagaki

Caretta Caretta Caretta Caretta turtles, also known as

Loggerhead sea turtles live and breed in Greece and can be found mainly in Zakynthos, Crete and the Peloponnese.

They usually live 70 to 80 years in average and when they are fully grown they can weigh 80 kilos.

The Loggerhead reaches sexual maturity within 25-30 years.

Caretta Caretta turtles live in the sea but have lungs so they often have to come up to the surface of the water to breathe.

They also rest on sandy beaches usually returning to their birthplace in order to lay their eggs there.

Nesting season starts in May and ends in August. They make large holes in the sand where they leave their eggs. But only 60-70% will hatch after 50 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGoayx3Hvo4

They mainly eat sponges, corals, sea pens, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, starfish, fish spawn, jelly fish and squid.

They have become an endangered species because people hunt them for their meat and eggs.

Tons of plastic is dumped into the sea every year and the turtles believing that it is a jelly fish eat it and choke.

Also the fact that holiday resorts put thousands of sunbeds on the beaches makes it difficult for the turtles to nest.

When the pup is born it is 1 meter long and weighs 15-18 kilos

The mother seal stays with her pup for the first 3 years of its life.

Monachus Monachus live in underwater caves often in remote cliff bound coasts.

They have lungs so they have to come out to the surface to breathe.

Monachus Monachus Monachus Monachus also known as

Mediterranean Monk seal, now only live in some areas of Greece as well in some islands in the Northwest African Coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

The average life span is about 20-25 years, they grow up to 2.5 meters long and weigh up to 315 kilos.

They reach sexual maturity within 5-6 years and give birth in small undersea caves, once a year.

The Mediterranean monk seal eats a variety of fish, octopus, squid and eels.

The monk seal is known as the most endangered marine mammals because of the illegal fisheries and because people hunt them for their pelt. Also because of habitat deterioration by coastal development and tourism. An other threat is the decreased food availability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlcdxTMeFCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmBdD26PTbs

:)

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle#Threats http://www.wwf.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=c

ategory&layout=blog&id=66&Itemid=85

http://www.nmp-zak.org/index.php?l=GR&pn=caretta http://www.explorecrete.com/nature/caretta.html http://eol.org/pages/328633/overview http://www.monachoulis.gr/displayITM1.asp?ITMID=14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_monk_seal#Diet http://www.arkive.org/mediterranean-monk-seal/monachus-

monachus/#ref7 http://www.monachus-guardian.org/factfiles/medit01.htm http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/pinnipeds/

mediterraneanmonkseal.htm