Learn Why We’re Turt-ally in Awe of Turtles

Learning English as a foreign language is brilliant. It can open so many doors for you professionally and become a humungous asset for all sorts of reasons. But spending every waking hour learning English can get a bit dry. You know what never gets dry? Sea turtles.  

You might have wondered why the UK’s best ESL teachers are called TurtleTalk. No? Fair enough. But if you had, it’s because we absolutely love turtles. Not just sea turtles, but also turtles that like to traipse about very slowly land. Why? Let us enlighten you. 

Why are turtles the best animals in the world? 

It’s strange that you should even need to ask that question, but seeing as you have, we’re going to educate you with some turt-ally brilliant facts and maybe a few more puns.  

1. When is a turtle not a turtle? 

When it’s a tortoise or a terrapin, of course. A lot of people get their turtles, terrapins and tortoises mixed up. The main difference is that tortoises live on land. Most turtles live in water, but not all do. There are some species of turtles that spend most of their time living on land but need access to the water to stay hydrated - don’t we all. Terrapins are turtles that live in freshwater habitats while turtles love the sea.  

2. A turtle’s shell is part of its body 

A turtle’s shell is not like a caravan for many reasons. For starters, it doesn’t have any wheels or a kitchenette. It’s also not something a turtle can take with them or leave to suit the occasion. A turtle’s shell is actually part of its skeleton and is made up of over 50 bones including its rib cage and spine. 

3. Turtles know the secret to a longer life 

Multibillionaire megalomaniac dweebs like Jeff Bezos might spend billions trying to extend their lives, but they just need to take a leaf out of the turtle’s book. Turtles have an incredibly long life span and regularly live until they’re over 100. The oldest turtle lived on the island of Tonga and reached the grand old age of 188. Fancy being 188? No, me neither. Bezos does though.  

4. They can weigh a tonne (almost) 

The largest turtle is the leatherback sea turtle. It can grow up to 1.75 metres in length and weigh up to 700kg. Let’s hope they never have to do a BMI test, because at 5ft 9in and weighing in at just shy of a tonne, the poor leatherhead will be well off the obesity scale.   

5. It’s a good time to be a male turtle 

   
   

Even if you look a little bit rough around the flippers, the impending climatic doom means it’s a great time to be a male turtle. Why? Well, the gender of sea turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand the where female turtles bury their eggs. Global warming is causing sand temperatures to rise, which is resulting in more female turtles being born. A recent study found that female green sea turtles on Raine Island (Australia) outnumbered males 116 to 1.