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Green Sea Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Description:

Photo take in a sea algae bed near a coral reef, This beauty is taking lunch very calm. They 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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5 Comments

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Yuko and Kunzah !

mauna Kunzah
mauna Kunzah 11 years ago

I hope I'm fortunate enough to see these in January. It's a really beautiful animal!

YukoChartraw
YukoChartraw 11 years ago

Very beautiful and cute! Thanks for your sharing your extraordinary encounter with us!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 11 years ago

Thanks Alice :)

alicelongmartin
alicelongmartin 11 years ago

Cool!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Spotted by
Gerardo Aizpuru

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Spotted on Dec 9, 2012
Submitted on Dec 9, 2012

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