The Official Site of the CHAGUARAMAS DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies

 Marine - Green Sea Turtle

Like other sea turtles, green turtles are known to migrate long distances between their feeding grounds and the beaches they hatched from. Many islands worldwide have been called Turtle islands primarily for the large amounts of green turtles that nest on their beaches each year. Female turtles dredge themselves onto beaches and lay eggs in nests that they dig during the night. After a period of time, hatchlings emerge from the nests and head for the water. Those that survive grow to maturity and live to a maximum of eighty years.

Adult green turtles are known to grow up to one-and-a-half meters long. While individuals have been caught that reached weights of up to 315 kilograms, the average weight of mature individuals is around 200 kilograms. The largest green turtle ever recorded weighed 395 kilograms (871 pounds).

Common Name - Green Turtle

Class -  Reptilia 
Order - Testudines

Family - Cheloniidae

The Green Turtle is a large sea turlte belonging to the family Cheloniidae.  The range of the species extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world.

The green turtle is the quintessential sea turtle, possessing a dorsoventrally-flattened body covered by a large, teardrop-shaped hard upper shell and a pair of large, paddle-like flippers. Despite the turtle's common name, it is lightly-colored all around while its upper shell hues range from olive-brown to black in Eastern Pacific green turtles. The turtle is actually named for the greenish coloration of its fat and flesh. The adults are commonly found in shallow lagoons, feeding mostly on various species of seagrasses.

Green Sea Turtles and Humans  

As a species recognized as endangered, it is protected from exploitation in most countries worldwide. It is illegal to collect, harm or kill individual turtles under the international agreement - CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). 

However, the turtles' populations are still in danger because of several human practices. In Trinidad and Tobago  and some other countries, the turtles are still  hunted for their flesh and their eggs are collected from nests and eaten as a delicacy. 

Pollution indirectly harms the turtle populations both on the population and the individual scale. Many turtles die as a result of being caught  in fishermen's nets and drowning. Finally, habitat loss due to human development is a major reason for the loss of green turtle nesting beaches.

Information on this page will be added as more research details are discovered