READING 2 Leggi il testo e rispondi alle domande. CARING FOR TURTLES SNORKEL is a loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and she is living at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, in Great Britain. Found in 1990 on the shores of Cornwall, she is now in her mid-20 s and they keep her at the Aquarium because she has numerous problems. The most serious is her eyesight: she has some white rings in her eyes and she can t see well. Besides, she can t swim flat in the water, so in the wild she can find hard to hunt for food and she can die! At the Aquarium they feed her twice a day and she eats about 100 squids every week! The vets also think she has a form of epilepsy and for this reason Snorkel needs medication every day. Luckily, her problems are now under control and she looks happy to swim around with the other inhabitants of the tank! What s the name of the turtle at the National Marine Aquarium of Plymouth? Snorkel. 1 How old is she? ...................................................................................................... 2 What problems have her eyes got? ...................................................................................................... 3 Can she swim well? ...................................................................................................... 4 What are the consequences of these problems? ...................................................................................................... 5 How often a day does she eat? ...................................................................................................... 6 How much fish does she eat every week? ...................................................................................................... 7 What do the vets think about her health? ...................................................................................................... 8 What does she look like in the tank? ...................................................................................................... SOME MORE LOGGERHEAD INFORMATION The largest populations of these turtles are in Greece and Florida (U.S.A.). They can hold their breath for over 10 hours. That s longer than any other marine vertebrate (including whales)! The average life expectancy is 60 years. They have the longest migration of any animal: 9,000 miles! They have few predators: large sharks can hurt their flippers, but only crocodiles can break their hard shell. Female turtles only come out of water once every two years to lay eggs. The males never leave the water. They are in danger of extinction because they often eat plastic by mistake, they meet shrimp nets and their nests are destroyed. USEFUL WORDS average = medio; breath = respiro; to feed = nutrire; few = pochi; flat = in orizzontale; flipper = pinna; found = trovato; hard = difficile; to hunt = cacciare; inhabitant = abitante; to keep = tenere; to lay = depositare; life expectancy = aspettativa di vita; medication = cura medica; nest = nido; net = rete; ring = anello; shell = guscio; shrimp = gambero; shore = scogliera; squid = calamaro; tank = vasca; wild = natura. 16 week two