Cancer in sea turtles.

Sea Turtles Sea turtles are one of the oldest extant groups of animals, and they have changed little in basic anatomy for millions of years. Sea turtles are found throughout the world, and depending on the species, range from warm tropical water to frigid oceans near the arctic. They can be herbivores, omnivores, or carnivores and can be quite large. For example, the largest species of sea turtle, the leatherback, can weigh several hundred kilos. All sea turtles have an oceanic existence. Males spend almost their entire life in the ocean. After mating, females crawl onto nesting beaches where they dig a nest, lay eggs, and return to the ocean. Several weeks later, these eggs hatch, and baby turtles disappear out to sea (no one knows exactly where). Eventually, juvenile turtles return to foraging grounds where they eventually mature to adults. Adults then migrate, sometimes many thousands of kilometers, to their breeding and nesting grounds where the cycle begins again. Sea turtles live for many (40+ years). Of the seven species of sea turtles, all are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. Major threats to sea turtles worldwide include overharvesting of meat and eggs for human consumption from nesting beaches for consumption, bycatch of sea turtles from fi sheries, and disease. Hawaii has two coastal species of sea turtles, the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the far more numerous green turtle (Chelonia mydas). The major nesting grounds for green turtles in Hawaii are at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian islands (~500 miles from Oahu); the main Hawaiian islands harbor the foraging pastures where you can see juvenile and adult green turtles grazing on marine algae. Since green turtles were listed as protected, the numbers of adults on nesting beaches has increased steadily.