Species Profile: Green Sea Turtle

Hello again, welcome back to animals under threat. Today, we will be covering a species of sea turtle that got its name by the colour of fat underneath its carapace/shell. This species is well documented as studies are been continuing to help prevent the species from going extinct. Please give a warm welcome to the Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas).

As stated above, Green sea turtles get their name from the colour of fat underneath its carapace/shell. This turtle is the one of largest sea turtles and is the only one of its species in the genus Chelonia. It is also the only sea turtle that feed on vegetation (Worldwildlife.org, 2020). Green sea turtle has a unique feature that distinguishes them from other species of sea turtles. This feature is a single pair of prefrontal scales (scales in front of its eyes) instead of two pairs which other sea turtles have. The carapace of the Green sea turtle is bony, has large non-overlapping scales and the body is almost oval shaped. The flippers each have one claw and the carapace colour varies from white, yellow, green and brown with radiating stripes (conserveturtles.org, 2020).

turtle swimming by Brocken Inaglory

Green sea turtles can weigh up to 700 pounds and can measure up to 5 feet. Males are slightly larger than females and have a longer tail. Adult turtles feed primarily on sea grass/algae while juvenile sea turtles feed on invertebrates such as crabs, jellyfish and sponges (nationalgeographic.com, 2020). 

sea turtle eating by P.Lindgren

Green sea turtle become sexually mature between 25 to 40 years old and breeding occurs between late spring to early summer. Males can mate every year, but females have to migrate every 2-5 years from foraging areas to nest. Females will lay over 100 eggs per nest before leaving the nesting area to return back to their foraging areas (fisheries.noaa.gov, 2020).

mother turtle nesting (above) by Nicolas Pilcher and baby turtle (below) by Kathryn Pintus

After 2 months, the young turtles hatch and make their way out of nest to the open ocean. They follow the brightest horizon to find the sea, but artificial light from houses/cities can confuses the turtles causing them to follow the artificial light instead of heading to the ocean. Young turtles are also preyed on by predators, however due to the large number of young turtles hatching and fleeing to the ocean, some of the turtles reach the ocean (Hannah et al, 2013).

Baby turtles 2 (above) by Nicolas Pilcher and baby turtle 3 swimming (below) by Dr Oguz Turkozan

Unfortunately, the Green sea turtle has reached endangered status due to pollution, hunting, coastal development and mortality by fishing nests. Young sea turtles mistake plastic bags as jellyfish causing them to choke and block the digestive track causing the turtle to die. Hunting turtles for their meat, shell and eggs has caused the population to decrease although efforts have been made to stop this. Coastal development of beaches has destroyed nesting sites and nests that have been established there. Green sea turtle can hold its breath for a long time but when entangled in nets, the turtles thrash around becoming stress and use more oxygen causing them to drown.

(caught turtles) by unknown

Next time, we will be covering an animal that looks like a giant fox that lives in South America.

References

https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-green-sea-turtle/ retrieved 22/03/2020

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/green-turtle retrieved 22/03/2020

Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Arthur, K.E., Bolten, A.B., Popp, B.N., Lagueux, C.J., Harrison, E., Campbell, C.L. & Bjorndal, K.A. 2013, "Trophic ecology of a green turtle breeding population", Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 476, pp. 237-249.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/g/green-sea-turtle/ retrieved 22/03/2020

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4615/11037468 retrieved 22/03/2020

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/green-turtle retrieved 22/03/2020

Picture references

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4615/11037468 (baby turtle 2 by Nicolas Pilcher)

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4615/11037468  (mother turtle by Nicolas Pilcher)

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4615/11037468 (baby turtle 1 by Kathryn Pintus)

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4615/11037468 (baby turtle 3 by Dr Oguz Turkozan)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sea_turtle (swimming sea turtle) By Brocken Inaglory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sea_turtle  (sea turtle eating) By P.Lindgren

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sea_turtle (caught turtles) by unknown