
안녕하세요, family and friends. Today is all about the most popular species of sea turtles. The Green Sea Turtle.
Firstly, I just want to to welcome you all to the very first post for this new segment: Turtle of the Month. I have made an introduction for it on my 23 May 2020 | World Turtle Day post. You can click the link if you haven’t read that already.
Secondly, I want to put out a disclaimer:
I am not an expert on turtles or zoology. I have put together this information from different respected organisations and sources, see 'REFERENCES' below. This is essentially a compilation of all the facts and interesting information I've found online .
There are overall seven different species of Sea Turtles the exact number of months left for 2020. For this first month, I would like for us to get to know the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia Mydas)
What do they look like?
Photo: from Marine Conservation Society Photo: from NatGeokids.com Photo: from Seaturtleworld Photo: from Greentumble Photo: from Seafoodsource Photo: from mattwicks via iStock on Smithsonianmag
Compared to other sea turtles



Habitat
- They prefer warmer waters and they are sensitive to both cold and heat
- So, they live in mostly subtropical, tropical oceans and mainland beaches or near coastline
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Male green sea turtles spend their whole lives at sea
- Females come out of the water to lay their eggs which is why they are also found in coastlines or around islands
Nesting



- An average of 100 to 150 eggs are laid every 2-4 years with an average of 3.5 times per season
- The eggs are covered in sand and incubates for about 2 months or 60 days
- The females travel to the same beach they were born in
- It can take 20-40 years for them to reach sexual maturity
Size and Weight
- Eggs are usually as large as a ping-pong ball and weighs 40-50g
- Hatchlings are around 30-40mm and weighs and 25-30g
- An adult’s carapace (hard shell) is usually 3-4.5ft or 83-114cm length and weighs around 240-420 pounds 110-190kg!
These adult Green Sea Turtles are twice as heavy as I am!!!
What do they eat?



LOUISE MURRAY | SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
- Young Greens (less than 8-10inches) usually eat grass, algae and soft-bodied invertebrates:
- Jellyfish
- Worms
- Snails
- Sponges
- Aquatic insects
- Crabs
- Adult Greens (more than 8-10inches) are herbivorous, mostly eating grass and algae
- their jaws have become serrated (sawlike) which helps them tear vegetations and soft corals
Fun facts:
- They played a role in helping EU explorers with their venture to the New World – providing a food source and navigations at night
- Some female greens who are nesting have been observed to make faux nests next to their real nest – to deceive predators
- Greens can travel 3,000 miles at the speed of up to 15miles/hour
- They have the most widely dispersed nesting sites compared to other sea turtles.
- Green turtles are called black turtles in Eastern Pacific because they have a darker colouration. They’re also usually smaller, laying fewer eggs.
Threats:
- Residential and commercial development
- They are losing their habitats from coastal developments
- Illegal harvest of their meat and eggs for human consumption
- Parts (usually their carapace) is used for leather
- Unintentional effects
- Getting caught in fishermen’s nets
What can we do to help?
- For those like me, who are far from any turtle conservation centres or turtle nesting sites – here’s what we can do:
Use reusable water bottles and bags – because all waste end up in the ocean and sea turtles can’t tell the difference.






For those who are able to help directly – Visit this link fisheries.noaa
REFERENCES:
-seaturtlestatus.org
-Burkemuseum.org
-conserveturtle.org
-flickr - wayne greeny4 (featured photo)
-IUCN-REDLIST
-Fisheries.noaa.gov
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
If you like reading devotionals, I upload every day except on Sundays. On Wednesdays, I upload Life Lessons posts. Lastly, every 23rd of the month a new Turtle of the Month is live.



This was so interesting. I love turtles, but know very little about them!
Thank you very much! Same here, and that’s why I thought I should search into them😊🤪
I loved this, especially the graphic showing all the different turtle sizes 😃 I didn’t know young turtles were “carnivores” either, that’s an interesting new fact I’ve learnt 😊
Thank you, I’m glad you were able to learn something new! And I know, I was shocked when I first read that too but it is really interesting😁✨
Turtles are so amazing! There’s some great information here.
They really are amazing! Thank you very much😁✨
I had no idea there were more than 3-4 types of turtles, that’s if you don’t count the teenage mutant ninja turtles of course. I was aware that they eat a lot of plastic due to it looking like jellyfish, which is just so annoying and frustrating. We need to look after the environment
I like that! I really do love teenage mutant ninja turtles too☺️ We really do, it’s one of the biggest downfall of our ever growing world. Although, plastics have been beneficial in a lot of ways too.. It’s just not so good for our environment😔
Wow, this was a super interesting read! I learnt some things I didn’t know before!
Amber – The Unpredicted Page
Thank you very much for reading! I’m glad you were able to learn something from it😊✨