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Marine
Creatures
of
Northern Australia
Compiled by Barry Tobin
Green
Sea Turtle
Species:
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtles
are named after the green colour of the fat under
their shell.
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Photograph
of "Aikane".
By kind permission of
Ursula Keuper-Bennett, Turtle
Trax
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Description
The green sea turtle
grows to more than 1 metre in carapace length (the length of
their shell) and weigh on average
about 150 kg. Most turtles have two pairs of scales in front of
their eyes whereas the Green sea turtle have a single pair of
scales. They're found in all temperate and tropical waters throughout the world.
Sea turtles have
distinctive face markings that are unique to each turtle. These
markings are used by researchers for identification.
Habitat
Green sea turtles
are rarely observed in the open oceans and appear to frequent
coastlines and islands.
Diet
As they age their
diet significantly changes. When less than 200 mm in length
they mainly eat worms, small crustaceans, aquatic insects, sea
grass and algae. When green sea turtles grow larger than 200
mm in length, they generally eat only sea grass and algae.
When adult, green sea turtles become strictly herbivores. Their jaws
have fine serrated edges that help in eating vegetation.
Nesting
Green sea turtles
nest at intervals of 2 or more years. They're known to
nest between 2 to 5 times per
season and lay an average of 115 eggs in each nest. Their eggs incubate for about 60 days.
When they hatch an
enduring struggle starts. The young hatchlings make for the
open water, running the gauntlet of predators waiting on the
beach, in the air and in the water. Many will die
before they even reach the ocean.
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Of those that make it this far,
possibly only about 1 in 10,000 will grow to be adults, the
surviving females eventually returning in several years to lay their
own eggs.
Tracks
left by a newly hatched sea turtle making its way down the
beach towards the open ocean.
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For
more information about sea turtles
 Indo-Pacific
sea turtle conservation group - AIMS collaborates with the
Indo-Pacific Sea Turtle Conservation Group to help preserve
these magnificent creatures, which nest within metres of the
Institute's laboratories at Cape Cleveland in north
Queensland.
 Turtle
Trax - An excellent site dedicated to the preservation and
conservation of Sea Turtles.
AIMS
home page
web@aims.gov.au
Last updated -
December 18, 2008
Copyright ©1996-2006 Australian Institute of
Marine Science
URL http://www.aims.gov.au
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