sea turtle

noun

1. any of several large turtles of the families Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical seas, having the limbs modified into paddlelike flippers: all sea turtles are either threatened or endangered through most of their range because of ocean pollution.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea turtle¹

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

Tell that to the sea turtles swallowing plastic garbage, or the fertilizer-driven algal blooms destroying the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico.

From MIT Technology Review

Derelict nets and other discarded fishing gear can still entangle fish, sea turtles, diving birds, and marine mammals like seals and dolphins.

From Ars Technica

Indeed, when loggerhead sea turtles first hatch on Florida beaches, they know to swim directly into oncoming waves, a strategy that deposits them into the Gulf Stream, part of a larger network of currents called the North Atlantic Sub-tropical Gyre.

From Nautilus

Much remains unknown about how turtles accomplish the same task, the only tools at their disposal resting within their own brains and bodies—but biologists have come a long way in understanding how sea turtles find their way.

From Nautilus

If sea turtles were sensitive to just one of these parameters—strength or inclination—then they could derive their position along a roughly north-south axis.

From Nautilus

Sometimes they are so fortunate as to obtain a sea-turtle; five only were taken during the two years we were there.

From Project Gutenberg

They abound, however, in land turtle and enormous iguanas; there was also abundance of sea turtle.

From Project Gutenberg

There was intense excitement when one of the men in a boat sighted a deep-sea turtle.

From Project Gutenberg

The remains of a sea turtle have lately been discovered, and are now in the possession of Mr. Deck, of Cambridge.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a deep-sea turtle of a surety, for the nearest land was a thousand miles away.

From Project Gutenberg