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Green Sea Turtle
Chelonia mydas
20.843, -86.867
Field Notes
Description:
Photo take at -12 m near a coral reef on manatee sea grass bed. This is Sara one of my favorites. The green sea turtle, possessing a dorsoventrally flattened body covered by a large, teardrop-shaped carapace and a pair of large, paddle-like flippers. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world ,top shell carapace is smooth with shades of black, gray, green, brown, and yellow; their bottom shell plastron is yellowish white.
Habitat:
Extends throughout tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.
Notes:
Adult green turtles are unique among sea turtles in that they eat only plants; they are herbivorous, feeding primarily on seagrasses and algae. This diet is thought to give them greenish-colored fat, from which they take their name.Adult females migrate from foraging areas to mainland or island nesting beaches and may travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers each way. After emerging from the nest, hatchlings swim to offshore areas, where they are believed to live for several years, feeding close to the surface on a variety of pelagic plants and animals. Once the juveniles reach a certain age/size range, they leave the pelagic habitat and travel to nearshore foraging grounds. Once they move to these nearshore benthic habitats, adult green turtles are almost exclusively herbivores, feeding on sea grasses and algae. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has repeatedly listed green sea turtles in its Red List as an endangered species.
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