How do sea turtles find their nesting beaches?

Probably using Earth's magnetic field

Why are beach lights bad for hatchlings?

They lure hatchlings away from the sea

A mass nesting of ridley turtles

Sea Turtles Trivia Quiz – Names, Facts and Surprises

A loggerhead can cross an entire ocean and still find the beach where it hatched decades earlier, and this sea turtles trivia quiz asks how. Follow leatherbacks diving into deep water, green turtles grazing in seagrass and the nesting beaches of Florida, Costa Rica and Oman.

Start Sea Turtles Trivia Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Species
How many sea turtle species are there?
Largest
Which is the largest sea turtle?
Shell
What is unusual about the leatherback's shell?
Home
How do sea turtles find their nesting beaches?
Diet
What do adult green sea turtles mostly eat?
Leatherback
What do leatherbacks mainly eat?
Lights
Why are beach lights bad for hatchlings?
Arribada
What is an arribada?
Hawksbill
Which sea turtle was hunted for its beautiful shell?
Breath
How long can sea turtles hold their breath while resting?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: How many sea turtle species are there?
Answer: Seven
Six of them are threatened.
Q2: Which is the largest sea turtle?
Answer: Leatherback
It can weigh over 600 kg.
Q3: What is unusual about the leatherback's shell?
Answer: It is leathery, not hard
Its shell has ridges of oily tissue.
Q4: How do sea turtles find their nesting beaches?
Answer: Probably using Earth's magnetic field
This is called natal homing.
Q5: What do adult green sea turtles mostly eat?
Answer: Seagrass and algae
This diet gives their fat a greenish tint.
Q6: What do leatherbacks mainly eat?
Answer: Jellyfish
Backward-pointing spines line their throats.
Q7: Why are beach lights bad for hatchlings?
Answer: They lure hatchlings away from the sea
Hatchlings head for the brightest horizon.
Q8: What is an arribada?
Answer: A mass nesting of ridley turtles
Thousands nest at once in Mexico and Costa Rica.
Q9: Which sea turtle was hunted for its beautiful shell?
Answer: Hawksbill
Tortoiseshell trade is now banned.
Q10: How long can sea turtles hold their breath while resting?
Answer: Several hours
Their metabolism slows down.

Sea Turtles Trivia Quiz – Ancient Ocean Wanderers

Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for over 100 million years. There are seven species: green, loggerhead, leatherback, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, olive ridley and flatback. They travel thousands of kilometers between feeding and nesting grounds.

Female sea turtles return to the beaches where they hatched to lay eggs, often guided by Earth's magnetic field. Hatchlings dig out at night and race to the sea, but only about one in a thousand may survive to adulthood.

Sea turtles face threats from fishing nets, plastic pollution, beach development and climate change, which affects hatchling sex ratios. Protected nesting beaches, turtle excluder devices and dark-sky rules have helped some populations recover.

What This Quiz Teaches

Ocean fans and students will enjoy these questions.

How many species exist
Which is largest
How turtles find their beaches
What they eat
What threatens hatchlings

Did You Know?

Leatherbacks can dive over 1,000 meters.
Turtles cry to remove salt.
Some turtles nest in Oman by the thousands.
Flatbacks live only around Australia.
Kemp's ridley is the rarest sea turtle.