The Green Turtle

Green Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Scientific Designation:
Kindom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Cheloniidae
Genus: Chelonia
Species: mydas

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
The common name of the Chelonia mydas is indeed misleading, for this endangered turtle is not green! A mainly black or brownish shell and yellowish skin disguise the green layer of fat underneath, hence the name "green turtle". One of the ways to distinguish a green from a different sea turtle is the fact that there is only one pair of scales in front of there eyes, while other turtles, including loggerheads and hawksbills, have two.

SIZE and NESTING:
With a carapace (upper shell) length of up to 1 meter (approx. 3 ft., Americans), the green turtle is one of the larger turtles. And if you used to think that all turtles were those tiny box turtles that kids find in their backyards, munch on this--once, a green turtle was measured in at 1.8 meters! (5 feet) And you wouldn't have dared to hold it--this turtle weighed almost 400 kg (that's 871 pounds)!!! This, however, was an exception--by comparison, the average nesting female weighs 136 kg (300 lbs.).
Floridian green turtles are known to nest every 2 or more years (the females, I mean), and lay about 4 clutches. After 60 days of incubation, the eggs hatch and around 115 hatchlings will patter towards the sea. In the USA, the Chelonia mydas usually nests from June through October.

FEEDING:
Think of a human child. As a baby, she will slurp down applesauce and mashed beets (or other torture), before graduating to PBJs and Twinkies at school, until finally she can cook and will prepare meals such as prime rib, burritos, and homemade pizza. A young green turtle is much like this, except of course the foods in concern are different. As a hatchling and juvenile, the green feasts on sea grasses, algae, worms, and little crustaceans and insects. As an adult, the Chelonia mydas is strictly a vegetarian, eating mainly algae and sea grass.

HABITAT:
Green turtles have been found in all tropical and temperate waters. There is a significant population in Central America, Hawaii, and Floridas. But don't look for these magnificent animals in the middle of the Atlantic--they tend to favor coastal waters, and around islands.

MAJOR THREATS:
There are plenty of them. The green is threatened by threat of drowning in shrimp trawling nets, and exploitation by humans of foraging (hunting) areas and nesting beaches. Another problem plaguing hundreds of greens is the contagious but incurable (so far) fibropapilloma tumour. As this is such a severe threat I will not even make an attempt to list everything about it on this page, so please follow the link to learn more.

It makes a person wonder, this living being is so wonderful, why are we killing it?
That's what I'm asking you.
WHY DO HUMAN BEINGS KILL TURTLE BEINGS??????

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