Green Sea Turtle

Green Sea Turtle

 The green sea turtle is a large sea turtle that is found through out the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. They get their name from the green colored fat that they have beneath their shell. Green sea turtles spend most of their life in the water. Unlike many other species of sea turtles they are primarily herbivorous. The adults spend much of their time grazing in the kelp beds that are found in shallow lagoons. When grazing or sleeping they can hold their breath for a long time but when diving or exerting themselves they can hold their breath for only 4 to 5 minutes. Then they must surface to breathe. They can fill their lungs in seconds so that they do not have to surface for long. Life for the first few years is much different. Youngsters spend much of their time in the open ocean eating a lot more protein then the adults. They do not reach sexual  mature until they are 25 to 50 years old. In the wild they can live to about 80 years old.

Green Sea Turtle

The green sea turtle is a protected species through out most of the world. They are listed as endangered by several international organizations including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In the use they are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In the wild the only predators the adults have are some of the larger sharks, specifically tiger sharks. The eggs, hatchlings and immature turtles have many more predators. Mammals often dig up the eggs that the female leaves on the beach. Crabs and shorebirds eat the hatchlings as they try to run into the ocean after hatching and marine mammals and sharks prey on the immature turtles in the open water. Man however is the largest threat. Boats and fishing nets can inadvertently kill turtles. Pollution and oil spills have a great affect on their population. There is also habitat loss, as people develop beaches that the turtles sometimes swim over a thousand miles to lay their eggs. I took these pics on the Big Island of Hawaii back in 2002. The turtle swam up to shore right in front of us as we were standing on the beach.