Journey to Jenks: The Life Story of Our Loggerheads
The Oklahoma Aquarium is proud to be home to two loggerheads born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on November 4, 1994. Because their eggs were laid so late in the year, outside temperatures were too cold for optimal survival, so the Virginia Marine Science Museum sheltered them from the cold. Once the loggerheads hatched and grew large enough to release, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noticed the sea turtles were accustomed to human care and that they would be better suited in a safe place that could adequately care for them.
The fast-growing turtles needed a larger tank than what they had at the Virginia Marine Science Museum, so they made the road trip from Virginia in 2001. At the time, they weighed about 200 pounds; now, they have both grown to weigh more than 300 pounds and may even approach 400 pounds in the future. While both live happily in Jenks, only one lives at Sea Turtle Island at one time because mature loggerheads can act territorial. Both males love people and pose for pictures, so be sure to visit them!
Conservation and Threats to Sea Turtle Populations
All seven species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened (close to endangered). This is primarily due to human activity and waste. Plastic waste, especially single-use plastics, poses a considerable threat to sea turtles. Sea turtles can and frequently ingest trash like plastic bags, straws, and fishing lines. While commercial fisheries and conservation institutions have taken many steps to protect sea turtles, there’s a lot you can do, too! Click here to learn how to “Think Blue to Go Green.”
Fun Facts:
- They are called “loggerheads” because their massive heads look like logs floating in the water when they come to the surface for air.
- Sea turtles cannot pull their heads into their shell-like other turtles.
- Loggerheads, leatherbacks, and green sea turtles all love to eat jellyfish. But how do they enjoy a stinging snack? Their mouths and throats are lined with papillae or pointy projections that protect them from jellyfish venom. The papillae are covered in keratin, which is the same protein found in human hair and nails.
- The temperature of the eggs determines the sex of a sea turtle. When the eggs are incubated below 81.86°F, all the eggs will be male, and when they are incubated above 87.8°F, then they will be female. At intermediate temperatures, the eggs in the nest will hatch with a mix of males and females.
- Scientists do not know precisely how sea turtles navigate thousands of miles to return to their natal beaches for nesting. Some widely supported theories are: (1) sea turtles can detect and follow the Earth’s magnetic field; (2) sea turtles imprint, or learn, unique characteristics of their natal beach, such as sounds, smells, magnetic fields, and/or ocean currents; and (3) younger sea turtles follow older, more experienced sea turtles.
Fish Friends of Sea Turtle Island
Sharks
All sharks are considered cartilaginous fish, meaning they have no bones. Instead, their skeleton is made up of cartilage, which is the tough, flexible tissue that makes up our own ears and the tips of our noses. Some boneless wonders residing in Sea Turtle Island include the bonnethead shark and the leopard shark. The bonnethead, also known as the shovelhead shark, is related to the great hammerhead. Bonnetheads are found in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, spanning across the entire east coast of the United States and from southern California to the coast of Ecuador. Leopard sharks are found in the Eastern Pacific, from Oregon to the Gulf of California in Mexico.
Fun Facts
- The bonnethead is the smallest species of hammerhead. While the great hammerhead can grow up to 20 feet long, the bonnethead usually only grows to four feet long.
- Leopard shark births are ovoviviparous, meaning they give live births. While most fish lay eggs that hatch outside the body, ovoviviparous animals hatch their eggs internally, so the pups are born breathing.
Osteichthians (Bony Fish)
Aside from cartilaginous fish, Sea Turtle Island is home to a wide variety of bony fish known as osteichthyans. This group encompasses any fish with a skeleton made of bone (rather than cartilage), so it is an extremely diverse group of fish. All the bony fish found in Sea Turtle Island would ordinarily cohabitate with loggerheads. Many of these fish have remarkable adaptations and serve essential functions in their ecosystem.
One of the most notable bony fish in this exhibit is our porcupine puffer. Porcupinefish are found in tropical reefs all over the world. They can grow up to three feet long but average around 16 inches long. They have a large, strong jaw with fused teeth that enable them to eat hard-shelled animals such as crabs, urchins, and clams. In the wild, porcupine puffers defend themselves by filling up with water and inflating to three times their size, shape-shifting into a giant spiny balloon that bamboozles potential predators.
Fun Facts:
- Parrotfish have some of the strongest teeth in the world! Their teeth are fused to form a parrot-like “beak.” What they do with those teeth is very important for beach enthusiasts: parrotfish eat corals and algae and digest them to produce a thousand pounds of poop, or as most of us call it, SAND, every year! That’s right—white sandy beaches are composed of parrotfish poop.
- Blue tangs and loggerheads are great friends, or as scientists would say, blue tangs and loggerheads form a symbiotic relationship. The loggerhead provides food for the blue tang, which eats the algae from its shell; in return, the loggerhead gets a clean shell which allows him to swim faster.
Feeding Frenzy
Feed shows are Monday through Friday at 3:20 p.m.
Education
Educational components highlight the endangered status of sea turtles, their important role in the wild, and how our actions can impact sea turtles and their ocean habitat.
Notice
For the safety of our sea turtles, no food or drinks are allowed in Sea Turtle Island. Strollers and wagons must be parked outside of the exhibit during high-volume crowds.
Donors
Thank you to all the donors who made Sea Turtle Island possible:
