Green Sea Turtle

Thanks for the link @artistatheart. Would use that as additional reference for future spotting :-)

Here is a link to what I think shows good sketches of the 7 different types of sea turtles. It is easy to see from these sketches that the Green Sea Turtle has a very different shell design from the Hawksbill. http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info...

Oh and thanks for the correction elime. Confirming this now to be a Green sea turtle. Checked on a photo of the same from a friend who was able to take a close up of the head - it only had a pair of prefrontal scales between the eyes. Hawksbills would have 2 pairs :-)

Hi elime. What about my other spotting from a different area? http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/695...

you were right to question yourself Eric. This is a Green sea turtle and not a Hawksbill :).

Haha, who knows!

I can imagine it was a wonderful relief to get underwater after such a trip!

Yes, I'll never forget the feeling of seeing that sea turtle 'flying' through the water beneath us. Indeed, like you said, it had a calming effect, which was especially appreciated at that moment, as I was feeling the crazy 'fear of heights' sensation - snorkelling in suddenly much deeper water. :-}

Oh it was. We were all nauseated - first time to really feel seasick. But once underwater, everything changed. Will definitely go back there when the weather is more cooperative. Must agree with the great experience of seeing a sea turtle. I look forward to it every time we dive. It somehow has a calming effect on me. In Dive and Trek in Batangas, we always see them - in fact we know where they sleep already when we go night diving :-)

Who knows, maybe the turtle you posted is the same one I got to take 2 years later? :-)

We were at Balicasag Island too... That must have been quite a rough boat ride for you if it was stormy weather!!
We were also there 2 years ago and saw a sea turtle - great experience. I've just posted a picture: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/694...

Thanks Ann! Rather stormy weather there at that time. This was taken in Balicasag Island, a 45 min banca ride from Panglao. Must have had 4 turtles sightings during that dive all of which had remoras tailing them. Hope you enjoyed your stay there in Panglao. First time for me to go there to dive. Enjoyed it. We usually go diving in Batangas. :-)

Lovely shot!
We were snorkelling off Panglao a week later, but missed this guy. (Didn't have a camera anyway.) Thanks for sharing! Those waters are just so full of wonderful, colourful life, aren't they! :-)