Green Sea Turtle
Chelonia mydas
EndangeredFast Facts
About
The green sea turtle is one of the largest hard-shelled marine turtles, named not for the colour of its shell but for the greenish fat beneath it, a result of its plant-based adult diet. It roams vast stretches of tropical ocean between feeding grounds and nesting beaches.
Unusually among sea turtles, adults are largely herbivorous, grazing seagrass meadows that they help to keep healthy and productive.
Behaviour
Green turtles undertake epic migrations, sometimes of thousands of kilometres, returning with remarkable fidelity to the very beach where they hatched in order to lay their own eggs. Females drag themselves ashore at night to dig nests in the sand.
Hatchlings emerge together and scramble to the sea, guided by the brightness of the horizon.
Did you know?
- The temperature of the nest determines whether hatchlings are male or female
- Green turtles navigate the open ocean using the Earth's magnetic field
- Adults graze seagrass so consistently that they keep the meadows cropped and healthy
- A female may lay several clutches of over a hundred eggs in a single season
Distribution
Tropical and subtropical seas worldwide
