Sea Turtles

The reef is home to six of the seven known species of sea turtle, which are: green, leatherback, hawksbill, loggerhead, flatback and Olive Ridley. When the eggs belonging to sea turtles are laid, the creatures possess no gender. In fact it is the job of the sand to determine the sex of the sea turtles. The females who become sexually active at 30 - 50 years old can lay 100 eggs at any one time. Ocean currents aid the hatchlings into the waters and they can travel hundreds of miles before becoming fully grown. When they too become old enough to have babies they return to where they were hatched and lay their eggs there. The leatherback is the biggest sea turtle, weighing in at 916kg.