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.
Green sea turtles are renowned for their extensive migratory journeys, traveling thousands of kilometers between their natal beaches, where they hatch, to their feeding grounds. This migratory behavior is crucial for their survival and reproduction, as it connects vital habitats at various life cycle stages.
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
Mediterranean Sea
American Samoa
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua & Barbuda
Australia
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Bonaire
Brazil
British Indian T.
British Virgin Is.
Cayman Islands
Official estimate
China
Christmas Island
Cocos Is. (Keeling)
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curaçao
Cyprus
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Fiji
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern T.
Grenada
Guam
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Iran
Israel
Official estimate
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Madagascar
Malaysia
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Official estimate
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Mozambique
Myanmar
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niue
Nort. Mariana Is.
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Puerto Rico
Saint Helena
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Solomon Islands
Somalia
Sri Lanka
St. Kitts & Nevis
Suriname
São Tomé & Príncipe
Tanzania
Thailand
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
Turks & Caicos
Tuvalu
UAE
US Virgin Islands
US Minor Is.
United States
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
YemenAnything we've missed?
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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
