You may know that turtles are not amphibians, they are air-breathing reptiles with lungs, which means they must come up for air every so often. But did you realize that they are world-class breath-holders?
An active turtle that is doing a lot of swimming and grazing may need to pop up every ten minutes to a half hour, but when they tuck under a ledge and nap, they can stay submerged for six hours or more.
While most sea turtles stay in the 6m-24m range, they are capable of diving to depths of 150m. Turtles at Wakatobi are found on almost all the reefs, particularly on the House Reef, Turkey Beach and Tanjung Patok.
Photo credit: Chris Gloor
