Green Sea Turtle Facts - Photos - Earth's Endangered Creatures

Green Sea Turtle

Andy Bruckner,
NOAA

Scientific Name:

Chelonia mydas

Group:

Reptiles

Status/Date Listed as Endangered:

EN-US FWS: July 28, 1978

EN-IUCN: 2004

Area(s) Where Listed As Endangered:

Florida, Mexico (nesting populations), temperate seas and oceans

Creature Profile

The green sea turtle is one of the largest and most widespread of all marine turtles and is found in warm tropical waters from New England to South Africa and in the Pacific from Western Africa to the Americas. Adults measure more than three feet long and weigh 220 lb on average. The green sea turtle gets its name from the green color of its body fat. The carapace is oval-shaped and varies in color from olive to brown, gray and black with swirls and irregular patterns. The undershell (plastron) is pale yellow or orange in color. Males are usually smaller than females.

Found only in tropical waters, these turtles rarely leave the water, except for when it is time to nest, or when they wish to bask in the sun to get warm. They are herbivores and feed on seagrasses and algae. When ready to mate, sea turtles migrate hundreds of miles across the ocean to the place where they hatched. The females also use the same beach to bury the eggs in the sand. Incubation lasts between 45 and 70 days. When eggs are ready to hatch, the hatchlings using a special tooth (that eventually falls off) to break the egg open, and then must use their front flippers to dig their way up to the surface. After reaching the surface, they immediately make their way back into the ocean. The young turtles are vulnerable at this time to a variety of predators, such as crabs and gulls on the beach, and to sharks and dolphins in the water.

Green sea turtles are mainly threatened by predation by animals and humans. They are overharvested for their meat and eggs in many areas. The meat is highly prized, and the cartilage underneath the plastron is used for making turtle soup. Also, some green sea turtles are accidentally caught by fishermen. This species is legally protected in the United States, and in United Kingdom protected from excess harvesting.

Wikipedia Article

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Wikipedia Article
Copyright Notice: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Green sea turtle".

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Green Sea Turtle Facts Last Updated:
May 9, 2017

To Cite This Page:
Mugo, C. R. 2025. "Earth's Endangered Creatures - Green Sea Turtle Facts" (Online). Accessed 5/16/2026 at https://earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?sp=821&ID=9.

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« Previous Page

Green Sea Turtle Facts Last Updated:
May 9, 2017

To Cite This Page:
Mugo, C. R. 2025. "Earth's Endangered Creatures - Green Sea Turtle Facts" (Online). Accessed 5/16/2026 at https://earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?sp=821&ID=9.

Need more Green Sea Turtle facts?

Custom Search

The Seven Sea Turtle Species of the World

Sea turtles are graceful saltwater reptiles, well adapted to life at sea. Unlike turtles on land, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head. But with streamlined bodies and flipper-like limbs, they are graceful swimmers able to navigate across the oceans of the world.

Here, we look at the seven species that can be found today, all of which are said to have been around since the time of the dinosaurs.