Green turtle skin#

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 356: 1-7 Sea turtles: A review of some key recent discoveries and remaining questions. Orientation and behaviour of hatchling green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) in the sea. Global population structure and natural history of the green turtle ( Chelonia mydas) in terms of matriarchal phylogeny. Thirty-year recovery trend in the once depleted Hawaiian green sea turtle stock. Organic contaminants and trace metals in the tissues of green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) afflicted with fibropapillomas in the Hawaiian Islands. Many green sea turtles populations are afflicted by a disease called fibropapillomatosis, which causes large tumours to grow on the head and face, interfering with feeding.Īguirre, A.A., G.H. Incidental catch in fishing gear is also a large problem for all sea turtles. The most important threat to green turtles is harvesting of eggs and adults from their breeding beaches, in spite of efforts to conserve these areas. Populations of green turtles have dramatically declined all over the world in the last hundred years, and some nesting sites have only a fraction of their original populations. Green turtles worldwide are listed as endangered by the IUCN. Individuals reach maturity around 25 years of age, after which females return to nesting beaches every 2-4 years to lay clutches of eggs that incubate for two months before hatching.

Green turtle skin#

It is thought that this diet imparts a greenish colour to their skin and fat, giving them their name. Adults green turtles are the only turtles that are exclusive herbivores, feeding on kelp such as sea lettuce and algae. Juveniles are invertivores, feeding mainly on jellyfish and other invertebrates.

Green turtles are unique because their diet changes as they age. Turtles in each region share similar patterns on their “plastron” (or lower shell) that can be used to trace their origin. There are two main green turtle breeding areas in the Northeast Pacific: Mexico (on the coast of Michoacan) and Hawaii (mainly at the French Frigate Shoals). They are more commonly seen in southern temperate waters around Mexico and Hawaii, but they sometimes show up in higher temperate latitudes when they drift in ocean currents during years with above-average sea temperatures.

Green sea turtles are found throughout the North Pacific and range as far north as Alaska.