More widely recognized as the green sea turtle, it carries a name that might imply a uniform coloration, but in reality, their appearance is much more diverse. The shells of these majestic creatures can exhibit a palette of colors, including brown, olive, gray, or black. This variation in coloration, however, does not detract from their distinct identity among sea turtles.
Adult green sea turtles are unique in their dietary preferences compared to their carnivorous juvenile stages. As adults, they adopt a herbivorous diet, primarily feasting on algae and sea grasses, which contributes to the health of the marine ecosystems by maintaining the seagrass beds and ensuring their area’s productivity and biological diversity. On the other hand, juvenile green turtles have a more omnivorous diet, consuming invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, and crabs, which helps control the populations of these species and maintains the ecological balance.
The sex of green sea turtles is influenced by the incubation temperature of their eggs, with warmer sand-producing females and cooler sand-yielding males. Climate change is exacerbating this, dramatically skewing gender ratios in areas like the northern Great Barrier Reef, where female hatchlings now vastly outnumber males, with a ratio exceeding 116 to 1.
Distribution
Atlantic Ocean
Indian ocean
Pacific ocean
Black sea
Mediterranean Sea
Albania
American Samoa
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Aruba
Australia
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bolivia
Bonaire Sint Eustatius And Saba
Bosnia And Herz.
Brazil
British Indian T.
British Virgin Is.
Brunei
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos Is. (Keeling)
Colombia
Comoros
Congo-Brazzaville
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Curaçao
Cyprus
Côte D’ivoire
DR Congo (Kinshasa)
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Fiji
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern T.
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea
Kuwait
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Niue
Nort. Mariana Is.
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Helena
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
St. Kitts & Nevis
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
São Tomé & Príncipe
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turks & Caicos
Tuvalu
Turkey
UAE
US Virgin Islands
United Kingdom
US Minor Is.
United States
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wallis & Futuna
YemenRecent Updates
October 2025: Green sea turtles have made a remarkable recovery after decades of conservation, with the IUCN reporting that their global numbers have steadily climbed since the 1970s. As a result, the species was reclassified from “Endangered” to “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.
Anything we've missed?
Help us improve this page by suggesting edits. Glory never dies!
Suggest an editGet to know me
Terrestrial / Aquatic
Altricial / Precocial
Polygamous / Monogamous
Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic
Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal
Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Herd
Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore
Migratory: Yes / No
Domesticated: Yes / No
Dangerous: Yes / No
