Green sea turtle

Largest hard-shelled sea turtle on earth

Sakis Lazarides


Green sea turtle

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Largest hard-shelled sea turtle on earth

Population 85,000 – 90,000
90% population decrease over the past half century

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

Country
Population est.
Status
Year
Comments
Atlantic Ocean
2004
Indian Ocean
2004
Pacific Ocean
2004
Mediterranean Sea
2004
American Samoa
2004
Angola
2004
Anguilla
2004
Antigua & Barbuda
2004
Australia
2004
Bahrain
2004
Bangladesh
2004
Barbados
2004
Belize
2004
Bonaire
2004
Brazil
2004
British Indian T.
2004
British Virgin Is.
2004
Cayman Islands
Official estimate
EX
Extinct locally
China
2004
Christmas Island
2004
Cocos Is. (Keeling)
2004
Colombia
2004
Comoros
2004
Cook Islands
2004
Costa Rica
2004
Cuba
2004
Curaçao
2004
Cyprus
2004
Dominica
2004
Dominican Republic
2004
East Timor
2004
Ecuador
2004
Galápagos
Egypt
2004
Equatorial Guinea
2004
Bioko
Eritrea
2004
Fiji
2004
French Guiana
2004
French Polynesia
2004
French Southern T.
2004
Mozambique Channel Is.
Grenada
2004
Guam
2004
Guinea-Bissau
2004
Breeding
Guinea
2004
Breeding
Guyana
2004
Haiti
2004
India
2004
Indonesia
2004
Iran
2004
Israel
Official estimate
CR
2023
Jamaica
2004
Japan
2004
Kenya
2004
Kiribati
2004
Kuwait
2004
Madagascar
2004
Malaysia
2004
Sarawak, Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia
Maldives
2004
Marshall Islands
2004
Martinique
2004
Mauritania
2004
Mauritius
0
Official estimate
EX
2004
Extinct locally
Mauritius
2004
Rodrigues
Mayotte
2004
Mexico
2004
Micronesia
2004
Mozambique
2004
Myanmar
2004
New Caledonia
2004
New Zealand
2004
Nicaragua
2004
Niue
2004
Nort. Mariana Is.
2004
Oman
2004
Pakistan
2004
Palau
2004
Panama
2004
Papua New Guinea
2004
Peru
2004
Philippines
2004
Puerto Rico
2004
Saint Helena
2004
Ascension
Saint Lucia
2004
Saint Martin
2004
French Part
Saint Vincent
2004
Saudi Arabia
2004
Senegal
2004
Seychelles
2004
Sierra Leone
2004
Sint Maarten
2004
Dutch Part
Solomon Islands
2004
Somalia
2004
Sri Lanka
2004
St. Kitts & Nevis
2004
Suriname
2004
São Tomé & Príncipe
2004
Tanzania
2004
Thailand
2004
Tokelau
2004
Tonga
2004
Trinidad & Tobago
2004
Turkey
2004
Turks & Caicos
2004
Tuvalu
2004
UAE
2004
US Virgin Islands
2004
US Minor Is.
2004
United States
2004
Hawaiian Is., Florida
Vanuatu
2004
Venezuela
2004
Vietnam
2004
Yemen
2004

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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