How do sea turtles "drink"?

How Do Sea Turtles Drink

The only thing sea turtles drink is seawater, and the thing that makes this possible is their glands. These glands are located behind each of their eyes, and they're commonly known as "salt glands". Those salt glands work in a very specific way when they drink salt water the salt enters the blood and is then transported to the salt glands. It can produce a solution that is twice the concentration of salt as the seawater. Then, that concentrated solution comes out the corner of the eyes, like salty tears, and gets washed away.

Fundamentally, with their salt glands, they filtrate the salt out of the water, cry it out later. After that process, about half of the water they drank in the first place is used for their physical requirements.

What Other Animals Have Salt Glands?

That's right, sharks, rays, skates, and sea birds also have salt glands. This allows them to filter salt out of the water they consume. These marine vertebrates spend a;; time in the ocean. They have evolved to cope with the high salt content of seawater.

The way salt glands are manifested in each animal is different. But the end result is the same - they all filtrate the salt out of the water to provide their bodies with fresh water. The location of these glands also varies depending on the animal. Sea birds and sharks both hav.e salt glands.

Sea turtles are the most efficient at extracting clear water from seawater. This means they can extract the largest amount of fresh water from the seawater they drink. So, in terms of salt gland efficiency, sea turtles have the best.

Interestingly, some land animals also have salt glands. Some species of birds and reptiles that live in arid regions have nasal salt glands. These glands do filter salt water but do help them to conserve water. These glands allow them to excrete excess salt from their bodies. Thus they can retain the water they need to survive in their dry environments.

Salt glands are a fascinating adaptation. It allows certain animals to survive in the harsh conditions of the ocean and arid environments.

Sea turtles are the most efficient at using their salt glands. But they are certainly not the only animals with this remarkable adaptation

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Filed in: ocean-life

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Comments

Riley - June 10, 2020
Very interesting! I never once thought about how sea turtles or even fish for that matter drink water, lol. I guess since they are already in the water, it just didn’t cross my mind.