Green sea turtles are agile swimmers, but on land they are cumbersome. Between May and August, female turtles clamber ashore in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to lay their eggs. The eggs incubate for 50 to 60 days. On a clear, moonlit night, the hatchlings dig themselves out of their nests and scramble to the water. Only 2 inches long, the tiny turtles must avoid ghost crabs, sea birds, and fish on their way to the open sea.
Turtles live in the water.
Tortoises live on land. Well, maybe not forever, but turtles are very successful creatures that have been swimming around for the past 200 million years. Fossils of the giant prehistoric turtle, Archelon , have been found in North America. Today there are about 230 living species of turtles and tortoises. Hawaiians are astute observers of nature.