APDG ~ World Turtle Day - 5/23

Did you know that May 23rd is World Turtle Day? Well yes it is. It's a great day to do some turtle crafts. Don't you think?

World Turtle Day is a holiday which is observed on May 23rd of each year. The purpose of this holiday is to celebrate these remarkable reptiles and to raise awareness about the American Tortoise Rescue – a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect turtles and tortoises all around the world. On this unofficial holiday, people can choose to donate money to this organization, volunteer for other organizations that promote turtle conservation and protection or simply spend the day enjoying cute turtle pictures on the Internet. After all, there’s no right or wrong way to celebrate this holiday as long as turtles are the main focus of your efforts.

World Turtle Day was founded in 1990 by the American Tortoise Rescue – a non-profit organization that sponsors this holiday annually. It was created so people could not only celebrate turtles but also so they can join in the effort to protect turtles and tortoises all over the world. Since the day it was founded, the American Tortoise Rescue has placed over three-thousand turtles and tortoises into caring homes.

Turtles are reptiles which belong to the order Testudines. They are characterized by their cartilaginous shell that develops from the ribs and acts as a shield for the animal. They are commonly cold-blooded animals – which means that their internal temperature fluctuates according to the temperature of the environment. However, some turtles have a higher temperature than their ambient environment due to their high metabolic rate – for instance, this is the case with sea turtles.

Some of the earliest known turtles lived approximately 215 million years ago. This makes turtles one of the oldest groups of reptiles – even older than crocodiles and snakes. Today, there are over 320 known species of turtles and many of them are endangered. Scientists classify turtles as amniotes, as they do mammals, reptiles, and birds. Like their fellow amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay their eggs underwater – although many different turtle species live very close to large bodies of water.

What turtles eat depends largely upon the environment in which they live. Many adult land turtles will eat plants, worms, and small insects. Some freshwater turtles eat fish and other aquatic creatures. Some sea turtles will often feed on soft-bodied marine animals such as sponges and jellyfish. Still, other sea turtles may live off shellfish or algae.

Almost 70% of the turtles that are alive today are endangered. This includes seven species of sea turtles (which include the Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Green and Leatherback Sea Turtles, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles, among others). It also includes land turtles such as the Radiated Tortoise, the Saw-jawed Terrapin, the Ploughshare Tortoise, the Philippine Pond Turtle, the Flattened Musk Turtle, the Yellow-headed Box Turtle, McCord’s Box Turtle, Indochinese Box Turtle, Yellow Mud Turtle, Western Chicken Turtle and Blanding’s Turtle.

The best way to celebrate World Turtle Day is to do something for turtles themselves. After all 70% of all turtle species are facing extinction due to global warming and other human activities. So this day is a good day to donate your money or time to your favorite turtle preservation or rescue organization. It’s also a good day to raise attention about the plight of turtles all over the world by using the hashtag #WorldTurtleDay on social media.

If you’re looking for a less-serious way to celebrate this holiday, then you can do all kinds of fun turtle related activities. You can have a turtle-themed party with a turtle shaped cake and games such as pin the tail on the turtle. You can also paint pictures of turtles, draw turtles or hunt down cute turtle pictures on the Internet. It all depends on you. Next onto our swap:

Post THREE (3) pictures and/or gifs to each of your THREE (3) partner's profiles with the theme "World Turtle Day" and/or "turtles". The pictures that you choose may be the SAME OR DIFFERENT between all of your partners. Please choose pictures that you think THEY will enjoy!

Only people with well filled out profiles may participate in this swap. I will be checking the night before partners get assigned.

If you get 3 pictures from your partner on "World Turtle Day" and/or "turtles" you have to rate a 5. The heart on the rating is for if you like what they sent.

To leave a photo on someone's profile use this code ! [ ] ( Put image address here ) With NO spaces & paste the picture's link between the curved parentheses.

Practice on your own profile first to be sure it looks good because you can easily delete there.

Pick images that are size 300 wide or smaller to be sure they fit. I go to Google images to get my pictures.

Hover over images to see their size because there will be some larger sizes there too. If you really like something click on it and go to the words SEARCH BY IMAGE and click on that. THEN go to the word SMALL and see if there is one 300 size. There are other tricks in the group thread; AN EASY way to get a small PIC from a BIG one;-)

You can find moving pictures at http://giphy.com/

Please write the TITLE OF THE SWAP ON YOUR PROFILE DECO MESSAGE too! This makes it easier for partners that are in a lot of these swaps to rate it.

Requirements:

1. A well filled out profile. I will check the night before partners get assigned.

2. You need to login at least two days prior to sign-in date.

3. Your dashboard must be up to date.

Any problems, feel free to contact me.

I want to thank @anrtist for allowing me to borrow SOME of her wording.