4 UPSETTING THE BALANCE The world’s oceans are full of many types of plants and animals that have lived there for thousands of years Those plants and ani mals together make up the ocean ecosystems Although humans are usually far removed from these ecosystems their activities often have a major effect on the This beautiful coral reef is home to thousands of sea creatures but it may not always be that way
5 UPSETTING THE BALANCE oceans Fishing building along coastlines and dumping poison ous waste upset the health of the ocean ecosystems Harmful chemicals can kill creatures or make them sick Large fishing nets can catch other creatures by accident and cause them to suffer One animal that has been affected by human be havior is the green sea turtle These creatures have been harmed so greatly that now they are endangered Because of the harmful behavior of humans the green sea turtle has become endangered Endangered is when a plant or animal is in danger of disappearing forever Vocabulary
6 Sea turtles are turtles that live in the oceans There are seven species or kinds of sea turtles Green sea turtles are one species The others are leather backs flatbacks logger heads hawksbills Kemp’s ridleys and olive ridleys Like all turtles sea turtles are reptiles Reptiles are cold-blooded animals that have scales THE TURTLE FAMILY These green sea turtles swam through the ocean and crawled onto the beach to lay their eggs
7 THE TURTLE FAMILY Sea turtles are great swimmers thanks to their flippers and webbed feet On land their flippers and feet help them crawl and dig Green sea turtles can stay underwater longer than any sea turtle How ever like all sea turtles they need to breathe air Green sea turtles may rest for up to five hours under water before surfacing for air They breathe more of ten when they are active Sea turtles have features that help them on land and features that help them in the water Can you identify some of each Compare and Contrast The turtle’s wide flat flippers help it glide through water
