Can turtles breath underwater?🤔🌬️ Sea turtles are air breathing reptiles with lungs, which means they regularly need surface to breathe, as can be seen with this individual here in the video! 👇 However, they can hold their breath for very long periods. A resting turtle can stay underwater for up to 7 hours, whereas an active individual may need to surface more frequently. When holding their breath, the heart rate slows down to conserve oxygen. Up to 9 minutes can pass between two heartbeats!