Loggerheads live in the seas around the world. Most of the beaches where loggerheads lay eggs are found on the coasts of the United States in North America (mostly in Florida), Oman in Asia, and Australia in the Pacific Ocean. Some loggerheads also live near other countries like Chile, Greece, and Indonesia.
Loggerheads eat fish, squid, jellyfish, crabs, and other small sea animals. Loggerheads mate while they are moving in the seas mostly from March to June every 2 or 3 years. When they are ready to lay eggs female loggerheads always come back to the same beach where they came out of their eggs as babies. Most loggerheads lay eggs in June and July. Most lay between 100 and 126 eggs. The eggs look much like ping-pong balls.
When they come out of the eggs baby loggerheads are called "hatchlings". They usually come out at night so that other animals, like birds and crabs, do not eat them. The hatchlings follow light from the morning sun to the sea. They swim out to parts of the ocean that have seaweed (plants that grow in the sea) to hide from other animals while they grow.
Most loggerheads move to warm waters during months that are colder but some hibernate, or sleep for long times, when it is cold. When they are hibernating they can stay under the water for up to seven hours before coming up for air.
Loggerheads live 30 to 50 years or more.
In the past loggerhead sea turtles were hunted by people for meat and for their eggs. Also their fat and shells were used to make medicines, combs, and other things. The number of loggerheads today is small and so governments in many countries have laws that do not allow them to be hunted anymore.
The main danger for loggerheads now is the nets used by fishermen which can accidentally kill the turtles. They are also killed by boats, fishing hooks, and other dangers from people.
Civilization is harming the loggerhead reproduction cycle, due to beach construction.
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age, also sometimes known as the
Islamic Renaissance, lasted from the 8th century AD to the 13th century. It is regarded as starting with the reign of Harun al-Rashid. Some scholars think one should count even the 15th and the 16th centuries to this period.
This period was called "Golden Age", because engineers, scholars and traders in the Islamic world did much for the arts, agriculture, economics, industry, law, literature, navigation, philosophy, sciences, and technology in this time. They built upon earlier traditions and added inventions and innovations of their own. Howard R. Turner writes: "Muslim artists and scientists, princes and laborers together created a unique culture that has directly and indirectly influenced societies on every continent."
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1655) (known as Gianlorenzo Bernini) was one of the greatest artists of the Italian Baroque period. He was famous both for his sculpture and his architecture. From 1627, he worked for Pope Urban XIII and then for Pope Alexander VII at St. Peter's Basilica where he designed the famous "piazza" (place) in front of the basilica and many of the most splendid things that are inside.
Bernini was born in Naples, Italy. He was the son of Pietro Bernini (1562-1629) who was a well known sculptor. When he was about 7 years old, his father took him to Rome.
As a boy and as a young man living in Rome, he saw the works of many famous artists. He saw the famous fresco paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, one of the most famous artists of the 1500s. The paintings told the Bible story of Creation. He saw the huge dome of St. Peter's Basilica which Michelangelo designed and the new extension to the building that was being built by Carlo Maderna.
One artist who Bernini knew well was Annibale Carracci who painted scenes on the ceilings of rooms for the pope. The scenes told stories, often Ancient Roman legends. Carracci took Bernini into St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini fell on his knees and decided at that moment that he wanted to make something beautiful and splendid to honour Saint Peter.
Another artist whose work Bernini saw was Caravaggio. Caravaggio's paintings were nothing like Carracci's. Carracci's pictures were bright, lively and colourful. Caravaggio's pictures were dark, sad and often frightening. But looking into Caravaggio's paintings was like looking at something that was really happening while you were watching. The people in Caravaggio's paintings looked as if they could breathe, speak and feel pain.
By the time he was 20, Bernini was a sculptor, carving statues out of marble. He had learnt a lot, not just how to carve marble, which he learnt from his father, but how to make figures that told stories like Carracci's and Michelangelo's and seemed to be alive, like Caravaggio's. An important man in the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, saw his work and became his patron, paying Bernini to make many beautiful sculptures for him and his family. Soon the cardinal's uncle got to hear about Bernini. He was Pope Urban VIII, the most powerful man in Italy. He asked Bernini to work for him at St. Peter's Basilica. Bernini spent 40 years of his life there, all the time except for a trip to France and shorter visits to other cities.
Most sculptures of that time were just of one figure. But Bernini had seen Michelangelo's famous sculpture of the "Pieta" which showed the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of her dead son, Jesus. Bernini made figures that were in groups and told stories. One of his famous groups comes from Roman Mythology. It shows the god, Apollo chasing a beautiful wood nymph (a sort of fairy) that he had fallen in love with. But her father had magic powers and suddenly turned his daughter into a tree. Bernini sculptured the very moment when her toes are turning into roots, her legs are becoming the trunk, and leaves are sprouting out of her hands and long hair. She has her mouth open and a look of horror on her face. No-one had ever tried to carve anything like that in marble before. The thing that is so amazing about Bernini's sculpture is that he has made the flesh, the wood, the leaves and the hair all look so real, even though they are all carved in white stone.
Bernini's most famous sculpture is "St. Theresa in Ecstasy". It tells the story of a saint who had a vision of an angel. Her vision was so beautiful that she fainted. Bernini has sculptured the vision, with St. Theresa lying on a cloud with the laughing angel in front of her. Their robes are blowing around, and it is hard to believe that the whole scene, which is set against a wall, is not really floating. Bernini did not just design the statues. He also designed the walls of the chapel around it, which is like a stage-set, made of beautifully patterned marble. Against another wall, he carved a balcony and several white marble people looking at the scene. They are members of the family that paid for the chapel.
The city of Rome has lots of squares with fountains in them. Pope Alexander wanted to make the city more beautiful, so during his time, more fountains were made. One of the biggest squares in Rome was the Piazza Navona. On one side of the piazza was the church of St. Agnes, built by Borromini. Bernini thought it was an ugly building. He was asked to make the ""Fountain of the Rivers"" in the square, right outside the church. It has four figures who are symbols of four rivers. Bernini carved one of river-figures looking up at the church and throwing his hands in the air in shock at its ugliness. Borromini was very upset with Bernini's joke, which has been there now for more than 300 years.