Transcript Green sea turtle - Elizabeth Frazier

GREEN SEA TURTLE
CHELONIA MYDAS
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Carapace (shell) color varies from pale to dark
green with yellow, brown and green tones.
• Size: Adults are 3-4 feet in carapace length.
• Largest of the Cheloniidae family
• Adults weigh between 240-420 pounds
LOCATION
• Tropical and Subtropical
• Two major subpopulations
• Atlantic
• Eastern Pacific
ECOSYSTEM
• Moving across three habitat types based on life
cycle:
• Lay eggs on beaches
• Mature turtles spend their time in shallow, coastal waters
(lush sea beds)
• Adults: inshore beds, lagoons, shoals
DIET
• Only truly herbivorous marine turtle
• Feed mainly on sea grasses or algae
• Serrated jaw to help turtle easily chew their food
• Juvenile green sea turtles are omnivores
• They eat plant/animal life (insects, crustaceans, sea grass,
and worms)
REPRODUCTION
• Breeding season in late spring early summer
• Adult males breed every year, while females breed
every 3-4 years
• Female digs hole on beach for 75-200 eggs two
weeks after mating
• Eggs incubate for 60 days
THREATS
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Habitat loss and degradation
Climate change
Pollution
Fibropapillomas- tumorous disease
Commercial fishing
Marine Debris (ingestion)
CONSERVATION EFFORTS
• Listing them on the RED LIST- endangered species list
• Blocking nests from other species
• Changing fishing habits
• Bycatching
WORKS CITED
• http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation
.php?page=green
• http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.10963642.1958.tb00583.x/abstract - Google scholar
article
• http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/green
.htm
• http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/images/turtles/green
_bruckner_hires_noaa.jpg
• http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_s
pecies/marine_turtles/green_turtle/