Green Turtle

The Green Turtle is very interesting. Did you know that  according to www.worldwildlife.org “Green turtles are in fact named for the greenish color of their cartilage and fat, not their shells”. On the same website it says that the Green turtle is usually 31-47 inches. About 2-3 feet long. It also says that they have a brownish shell and green cartilage and fat.”Their carapace can include shades of different colors, including dark brown, green, olive, yellow and black”. On www.fisheries.noaa.gov it states that Green Turtles eat algae and seagrass. One very interesting fact that caught my attention on www.worldwildlife.org/ it says “In the Eastern Pacific, a group of green turtles that have darker shells are called black turtles by the local community.

Isn’t it unique that according to www.oceana.org “The green turtle is the largest species in the family of hard-shelled sea turtles and second largest to the leatherback turtle among all sea turtles.” The Green turtle lives in the Atlantic,Pacific, and Indian Oceans. (www.fisheries.noaa.gov).  On that same site it claims that the Green turtle lives alone/solitary. Can you imagine living alone?  According to www.reptileknowlege.com young turtles hatch from their eggs and live alone in the big ocean. They don’t stay with their moms their whole life. “Can you believe that they like to spend most of their lives underwater, where they can rest for up to five hours at a time before coming up to breathe”.(www.natgeokids.com) 

How to Help

Can you believe that there are between 85,000 and 90,000 nesting females left in the wild.(www.conserveturtles.org). According to www.worldwildlife.org “Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles a year are accidentally caught in shrimp trawl nets, on longline hooks and in fishing gillnets.On the website www.conserveturtles.org it says “ If sea turtles went extinct, dune vegetation would lose a major source of nutrients and would not be as healthy…”. That makes me feel sad because Green turtles are so important to the ecosystem and food chain yet we don’t take care, and protect them. The food chain is super important. What would the shark eat if there were no green turtles?  Did you know that illegal trading happens for turtle meat and eggs.

How would you feel if these beautiful animals went extinct and were never seen again. I bet that you would feel sad.