This is not only true for leatherback sea turtles, but for almost all sea turtles.
Creatures like sea turtles generally have a long lifespan, strong and powerful limbs that are very suitable for swimming, and most of them have hard shells. During their long lives, they hardly encounter any disasters except the time when they break out of the shell and crawl from the beach to the ocean.
Adult leatherback turtles usually crawl onto the beach and dig holes to lay eggs in May and June every year. Each time, they lay about 90 to 150 eggs. After laying the eggs, they bury them with sand on the spot and wait for the eggs to hatch naturally.
Young leatherback turtles usually hatch from their shells between July and September each year. That is when there are the most birds. Flocks of birds will prey on the young leatherback turtles that line up in a straight line on the beach and swim towards the ocean.
The straight line from the sand pit to the ocean, which is usually no more than a hundred meters, is the life and death line for the little leather turtles. Usually nearly half of the little leather turtles will die along the way.
However, the little leatherback turtles that enter the ocean are basically safe.
They will not swim quickly to the deep sea, but will look for food in coastal areas. Most coastal areas are shallow seas, and there are rarely any fierce marine predators. In addition, the little leatherback turtles eat almost everything, including small fish, shrimps, and even plankton, so the little leatherback turtles are quite safe at this stage.
By the time sea turtles reach adulthood, they have almost no natural enemies in the entire ocean.
It is really sad that such a creature with almost no natural enemies, strong ability to reproduce and survive, and extremely strong vitality is almost extinct just because of a small plastic bag.
Of course, excessive capture by humans in the early years was also an important reason for the sharp decline in the number of sea turtles. At that time, there was a saying that a turtle lives for a thousand years and a turtle lives for ten thousand years. Many princes and nobles generally believed that sea turtles were spiritual animals and that drinking sea turtle stew could prolong life.
There are vendors selling small fish and shrimps outside the marine exhibition hall. Many ornamental fish actually eat small fish and shrimps.
Xiang Yang bought ten yuan worth of fresh small fish and shrimp and poured them into an iron basin to feed the three leatherback turtles.
The three leatherback turtles had no idea what fear was. When they saw the iron basin full of small fish and shrimp surrounding them, they stretched their heads and started to swallow the fish and shrimp in the iron basin.
"Little boy, call your father and ask him to pick you up!" After Xiang Yang finished feeding the turtle, he took out his cell phone and handed it to the little boy.
The little boy must lead the way to the beach where the turtles were found. Xiang Yang estimated that Chen Yu might ask the boy some questions in a while, and the boy would definitely not be able to leave in a short time. In addition, the Shanghai Exhibition Hall is several miles away from the nearest beach. Xiang Yang cannot take the boy around without notifying the boy's parents, otherwise the parents will think they have encountered human traffickers.
"Uncle, my father is not at home. He is on a business trip." The little boy said crisply.
"What about mom?" asked Mr. Peng.
"Mom is on a business trip too." said the little boy.
Xiang Yang raised his eyebrows. Since both parents were out, the child must be with his grandparents? Xiang Yang squatted down and asked kindly, "Little boy, what's your name? Who do you usually live with?"
"My name is Li Jin, and I live with my parents, grandma, uncle and aunt." The boy said loudly.
Xiang Yang was happy, as they felt that the family was still one and the same.
"Do you know your uncle's phone number? Is your uncle not on a business trip?" Mr. Peng explained to Xiang Yang, "The road may be a little bumpy for a while, so if possible, it's better not to ask the old man to come."
Xiang Yang nodded.
Li Jin said: "I know, my uncle's phone number is..."
Xiang Yang entered a phone number according to the number the little boy said.
Xiang Yang was immediately stunned by this input. He actually had the contact person of the boy's uncle, who was Li Chao.
Xiang Yang blinked, "Your uncle is Li Chao?"
The boy nodded.
Mr. Peng also turned his head immediately, "Li Chao? The Li Chao from Dragon City Crown?"
Xiang Yang said, "I'm afraid so. It turns out you know him too." After that, Xiang Yang called the number.
Mr. Peng shook his head and smiled bitterly. They were all in the same circle and from the same city, how could he not know
Let’s not talk about Xiang Yang and Mr. Peng sighing that the world is so small that they can meet acquaintances like this. On the other side, Li Chao was showing off his French Blue Dragon to a small circle in the sea exhibition hall.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Li Chao looked at the caller ID, then picked up the phone with a smile, "Hello, Brother Xiang, what's the matter with you again? Lan Long, didn't you say you didn't need it anymore?"
"Yes, he's my nephew. How did you know?"
"What? What did you say?"
"This little bastard, Brother Xiang, wait for me there, I'll be there soon."
A few minutes later, Li Chao and Zhang Qicheng quickly came out of the ornamental fish exhibition city.
"Uncle." The boy shouted first.
"Brother Chao."
"Mr. Li."
Xiang Yang and Mr. Peng also shouted.
"Brother Xiang, Mr. Peng, thank you very much." Li Chao first thanked Xiang Yang and Mr. Peng, then looked at Li Jin and glared, "Who asked you to come here? Does grandma know?"
Li Chao scolded Li Jin first, then looked at Xiang Yang and explained: "My brother and the old man are both stubborn. They believe in raising boys poorly and girls well. If Xiao Jin wants pocket money, he has to do corresponding housework or get a certain score in the exam, so his pocket money is actually very little. I didn't expect this kid to go to the beach to catch leatherback turtles. Fortunately, he met you and didn't sell it, otherwise it would be really troublesome."
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "This is what I should do. I believe I would do the same if I met someone else."
"These three leather turtles are difficult to deal with. Brother Xiang, General Peng, please wait a moment. I'm going to call my dad. He needs to step in on this matter." Li Chao hurriedly took out his phone.
Xiang Yang hurriedly stopped him and told Chen Yu about it.
"A research team with formal procedures?" Li Chao raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "That is one way, but don't let it slip later. If you say that Xiao Jin found the leather turtle, don't mention that he is selling leather turtles. I will treat you to a meal later."
Xiang Yang and Mr. Peng naturally agreed with a smile.
Seeing this, Li Chao finally had time to look into the small iron basin. "Wow! Even I have never seen a real wild leatherback turtle. I didn't expect this guy to have caught three."
Zhang Qicheng said, "I have seen it, but that was many years ago. At that time, people still hunted leather turtles. Leather turtles were easy to catch at that time. When the leather turtles came to the beach to lay eggs or rest, they would be turned upside down. Without external force, they would definitely not be able to turn over on their own. During the leather turtle laying season, people would be sent to guard the beach. When they came across leather turtles, they would be turned over, and then they would be picked up the next day by car."
As he spoke, Zhang Qicheng wanted to reach into the iron basin and grab a small leather turtle out to demonstrate to the others.