Sea turtles live only in the tropics
Some turtle species, the hawsbill, green, and flatback, do live in the tropics. But the other four species of sea turtles spend at least part of their lives in other areas. Although the leatherback nests in the tropics, it spends much of its life in nontropical areas.

Turtles are slow
Sea turtles are slow on land, but in the water they can move quite quickly. Sea turtles are known to swim up to 3 miles (4.8 km) per hour. Adult sea turtles move much more slowly on land than in water. Once they enter the water as hatchlings, male sea turtles almost never leave the water. Because they are slow on land, females are in much greater danger from predators when they are nesting.

Turtles weep when they leave their eggs
Although tears fall from female sea turtles eyes as she lays her eggs, she is not sad. The tears are a way for her body to get rid of salt. The tears fall from her eyes in the water too, but they cannot be seen.

As they get bigger, sea turtles have fewer predators. Adult sea turtles are sometimes attacked by sharks, but are usually not killed by them. Adult leatherback has been known to defend themselves against a shark; they will ram into the shark, bite at it, swim rapidly around, and swim upside down on the surface of the water and splash on the surface. In some places of the world, they may be eaten by killer whales, and nesting turtles may be killed by jaguars.

Humans pose the most threat to turtles. They take eggs, kill adults, pollute the ocean, ruin nesting sites, and disturb nesting turtles. In many parts of the world, people use turtle eggs for food. They are an inexpensive source of protein. Green sea turtles are often killed for their meat. Others are not considered as tasty as the green turtle, but they’re still killed and eaten.

People use other sea turtle parts as well. They use turtle oil for caulking wooden boats and for oil lamps. Some other sea turtles, like the hawksbill, are used to make turtle shell jewelry and other expensive items. Poachers look for the olive ridley turtle because they can make leather from its skin. Leatherback turtles do not have valuable scutes ad do not make good leather, so they are safe from these poachers.