It bobs its head from the water much to the delight of a little girl who was eagerly waiting for it to surface and breath. The girl was on the shore with her parents in Ras Al Hadd and every time the turtle comes out for air, she clapped in glee.
The turtle with a large head and powerful jaw muscle was oblivious to what was happening nearby. Its attention was kept busy by what’s under the water — fishes, squids, urchins and perhaps one of its favourites, the oysters.
Loggerhead turtles got their name from the shape of their head. Comparatively larger than other species of turtles, it supports a powerful jaw muscle that allows them to crush and feast on clams.
Consider to be the largest of the seven species of sea turtles, loggerheads spend almost all their lives in the water. Experts revealed that only females go on dry land every two or three years to lay their eggs. Just like most sea turtles, they travel thousands of miles to return to the shores where they were hatched and after painfully slow progress of crawling in the sand and digging a pit, they lay their eggs and go back to the water.
Healthy adult turtles can live for fifty years or more in the wild. Their varied diet corresponds to their habitats and although they can be found all over the world except for places with freezing temperature, they only nest on selected spots.
Loggerheads are most common in the Mediterranean finding safety on the shores of places like Turkey, Greece, Israel and Libya.
Consider to be endangered in status, the number of sea turtles nesting in Masirah Island as a study found has been continually declining. While they peaked at 40,000 or more in the 70s, comparative analysis revealed that there’s only an estimated 11,000 visiting in 2014 and probably less in 2018.
There are many fascinating facts about loggerheads.
They can dive up to 1,300 metres in a single trip and can stay under water for more than 80 minutes. It can lay 130 eggs at a time when nesting and mostly active during the day.
Reproduction wise, they reach sexual maturity between 17 and 33 years of age with courtship and mating occur during their open ocean migration. They also lay eggs every two or three years.
In Oman, numerous efforts are being made to protect the loggerhead and all sea turtles in general. When the data was determined that the Masirah Island loggerhead population is declining, the Environment Society of Oman has trained local field assistants and work with the community to ensure their protection.
The general public is also educated regarding protecting their nesting sites as well as putting emphasis on the general threats not only to their habitats but the turtles themselves. For details about conservation efforts being made, visit www.eso.org.om.
MAI AL ABRIA & YERU EBUEN -
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