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Green sea turtle
ON EXHIBIT:
Hot Pink Flamingos
At the Aquarium
Natural History
Sea turtles travel far and wide, riding currents across the open ocean. Females return to the same beach each year, using magnetic clues as a map back home. Under the cover of darkness, the mother climbs onto the beach to lay close to 100 eggs. She then buries them under a sandy blanket and returns to the sea.
After about two months the eggs hatch. On a mad dash for the sea, newly hatched sea turtles scurry to escape animals that want to eat them.
Conservation
Sea turtles face many threats, including loss of nesting beaches due to development, hunting, egg harvesting and pollution. They’re also caught accidentally as bycatch, though the fishing industry has developed “turtle excluder devices,” trap doors in shrimp nets that allow turtles to escape. The green sea turtle is on the red (endangered) list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
But soon they’ll face even bigger challenges. As oceans warm and sea levels rise, sea turtles will struggle to find enough food, mates and nesting beaches. And rising temperatures could also upset the balance of male and female turtles. Warmer eggs become females, while cooler eggs become males. If beaches get too warm, scientists worry there could be too many females—and not enough males to fertilize their eggs.
Learn more about our “Hot Pink Flamingos” special exhibition.
Cool Facts
Green sea turtles get their name from an internal layer of green fat.
Many islands around the world are known as “turtle islands” because they host nesting green sea turtles.
Green sea turtles can live to be 80 years old.
Sea turtles breathe oxygen, but can stay underwater for up to two hours before coming to the surface and taking one explosive breath.
Sea turtles rid themselves of excess salt through a “salt gland” near each eye, making them appear to be crying.
Turtles are reptiles, related to snakes, crocodiles and now-extinct dinosaurs.
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Animal Facts
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ON EXHIBIT:
Hot Pink Flamingos
- Scientific Name:
Chelonia mydas
- Habitat:
Open Waters
- Animal Type:
Reptiles
- Diet:
jellies, invertebrates, sea grasses, seaweeds
- Size:
to 4 ft. (1.2 m)
- Range:
Worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters.
- Relatives:
Green sea turtles are closely related to black sea turtles, and are in the same family as the loggerhead, hawksbill, Kemp's or Atlantic ridley, olive or Pacific ridley and the Australian flatback.
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