David Hall's Encounters in the Sea Photography
Sea Turtles and Sea Snakes
There are seven species of sea turtles, and all are severely endangered or threatened due to
destruction of nesting habitat, overharvesting of both eggs and adults, and marine pollution;
many are also drowned in shrimp trawling nets. The largest sea turtle, the Leatherback, may reach
a length of over seven feet and weigh as much as 1500 pounds. Female sea turtles come ashore only
to lay their eggs, often completing a journey of a thousand miles or more, in order to return to
the same beach where they were born.
There are approximately fifty species of venomous sea snakes found in tropical Indo-Pacific waters. Most give birth at sea to
live young and have been placed in the Family Hydrophiidae or "true sea snakes". A few species come ashore to lay eggs (Family
Laticaudidae, or "sea kraits").