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Green Sea Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Description:

Finally today i find one of my girls at the manatee grass bed, photo take at -35 ft near a coral reef . This is a local Green Sea Turtle that lives in this reef. 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:

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. Wikipedia.

Notes:

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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17 Comments

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks so much Emma :):)

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 11 years ago

stunning!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Matthijs :):)

Matthijs
Matthijs 11 years ago

Wonderful series Gerardo!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks so much Eric :):)

Eric Noora
Eric Noora 11 years ago

Great series as always Gerardo :-)

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Joshua :):)

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks so much Holley :):)
Im very glad you like turtles they are amazing interesting and beautiful.
Thanks The tejminator !

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Maria i always try no to swim on top of them they don´t like it but this one let me take a shot from the top.

the_tajminator
the_tajminator 11 years ago

amazing

Holley D.
Holley D. 11 years ago

Sorry I meant saw!!! I'm so embarrassed!

Holley D.
Holley D. 11 years ago

Wow I <3 sea turtles! Once, when I was snorkeling I was about 3 or 4 small sea turtles.

Josh Asel
Josh Asel 11 years ago

gorgeous. you have a blessed life man!

Maria dB
Maria dB 11 years ago

Your turtle spottings are always superb, Gerardo! I especially like the last photo in this series showing the carapace, which is beautiful.

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks East End and RheannonEaster :)

East End aka Lorelei
East End aka Lorelei 11 years ago

Beautiful series Gerardo! She has such a pretty face :)

RheannonEaster
RheannonEaster 11 years ago

very nice pictures. i love turtles

Gerardo Aizpuru
Spotted by
Gerardo Aizpuru

Mexico

Spotted on Jul 3, 2012
Submitted on Jul 3, 2012

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