What's a group of turtles called?

A group of turtles is called a "bale." Many people use the term "herd" to refer to a group of turtles. No matter what species, all turtles belong to the order Testudines.

Pond and river turtles and the like spend their lives in or near bodies of water and are dependent on them. Tortoises are turtles belonging to a subgroup called Testudinidae. Tortoises differ from regular turtles in that they only go in or near water to drink or bathe. The largest turtles live on the Galapagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. These large tortoises weigh as much as 800 pounds.

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34 Comments

Mariana Puli Castelblanco Grau

Sorry, but for my knowledge, the Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. The Galapagos Islands belong to the country of Ecuador.

Larry Freeman

Mariana Puli Castelblanco Grau, Also, the Galapagos turtles aren't... turtles, that is: they are tortoises. Nor are they the biggest of the Testudines. Leatherback sea turtles (the largest in the world) can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, more than twice the size of the Galapogos species. Tortoises and turtles belong to completely different families. Tortoises live on land--turtles live in water, although they do lay their eggs on shore.

William Laughlin

Sorry, but the Galapagos Islands are west of Ecuador and due south of Mexico and Guatemala in the Pacific Ocean. The island group is nowhere near the Indian Ocean. Where are you getting your information from?

Ayn Erickson

The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. Cant't believe the checkers who stroke out on commas and other nit picks didn't notice this big gaff. Maybe they should worry more about content that capitalization.

Cheryl Perkins

Whoever wrote this Q and A needs to do more research. Very poor.

Elaine Braun Murphy

The Galápagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean. Not the Indian Ocean as stated

Gustavo Aristizabal Tobon

You are right!!Mariana Puli Castelblanco Grau,

Deborah O'Neill

Ridiculous term

John Heeringa

Good question.

Bevis Stevens

why the name bale????

Diding Otico

Good question

kurtbeck

the Galapogos are in the Pacific....duh

Wayne Jines

Mariana Puli Castelblanco Grau, I agree, passed by them while towing an aircraft carrier about 5 years ago.

George Oliver Prince

Wouldn't have known this, but my wife is a turtle nut, pictures of them everywhere, and I have to stop the car when one is on the road

Naked Kitty Slave

Reference.com is no better than using Quora.com or Wiki really. At least Wiki has some backbone with reference cites. But they are all written by everyday hooman contributors who don't know they're arses from a hole in the ground. Perfect example is this explanation. Galapagos islands are nowhere near the Indian Ocean - how this got past review is above my paygrade.