Green sea Turtle

Description:

The Green Sea turtle can vary in size, weight, and color. The shell of this turtle can have various color patterns that may change over time. The average weight of a mature individual is 150-420 pounds, with special specimens weighing 500+ pounds! another species that shares the same environment as the Green sea Turtle is the Tiger Shark. A Tiger Shark is a large predatory fish with a sandy color and dark, thin stripes along it's sides making it appear as a tiger pattern.They prey on turtles, fish, and even other sharks and whales! Sometimes, small groups of fish cluster around these turtles and peck at their shells. This is an example of a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. The turtle gets it's shell cleaned, and the fish gets a meal with mutualism. Green sea turtles are color and pattern coordinated to survive life in the ocean. For example, their bellies are a light color, which can come in handy when a predator is underneath them looking up because the underside of this creature matches the ocean surface. Also if a tiger shark were to look down on this turtle, he would not even see him because of the dark patterns on his shell. This species uses sexual reproduction in which they come together to mate underwater where one male gamete unites the female gamete to produce a zygote.

Habitat:

Green sea turtles can be found anywhere in the pelagic, or, open ocean zone in their early years and then when they are about 5 years old, they will move to warmer coastal waters where sea grass and algae are abundant. They eat fish in their early years in deep waters and then will munch on vegetive products such as sea grass and algae when they mature. Green sea Turtles' main predators are sharks. Specifically Tiger sharks which will saw through a hard shell and rip the flesh to pieces in a matter of seconds. They contribute to the environment by making a huge difference in cleaning all the junk and algae off of the living coral they live in. I found this specimen at the Five Graves dive site in Maui.