{"id":461,"date":"2025-05-19T14:37:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T14:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/?p=461"},"modified":"2025-06-10T15:29:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T15:29:39","slug":"13-fascinating-facts-about-green-sea-turtles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/19\/13-fascinating-facts-about-green-sea-turtles\/","title":{"rendered":"13 Fascinating Facts About Green Sea Turtles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Encountering green sea turtles in their natural habitats is an extraordinary privilege. These graceful marine reptiles, currently classified as endangered, face threats ranging from the overharvesting of their eggs and hunting to entanglement in fishing nets, ocean plastic pollution and the loss of crucial nesting habitats. Primarily inhabiting tropical and subtropical waters around the globe, these turtles offer travelers rare moments of connection during expeditions such as Nat Hab&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/central-america\/costa-rica-turtles-tour\">Sea Turtles &amp; Wildlife of Northern Costa Rica<\/a> and our Ultimate Australia Safari, highlighting the importance of conservation travel in protecting these ancient mariners.<\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><!-- This site is converting visitors into subscribers and customers with OptinMonster - https:\/\/optinmonster.com :: Campaign Title: Inline_Destination_Australia North_Great Barrier Reef --><\/p>\n<div id=\"om-uyotgp4vu68xsqrxi1w9-holder\"><\/div>\n<p>(function(d,u,ac){var s=d.createElement(&#8216;script&#8217;);s.type=&#8217;text\/javascript&#8217;;s.src=&#8217;https:\/\/a.omappapi.com\/app\/js\/api.min.js&#8217;;s.async=true;s.dataset.user=u;s.dataset.campaign=ac;d.getElementsByTagName(&#8216;head&#8217;)[0].appendChild(s);})(document,123366,&#8217;uyotgp4vu68xsqrxi1w9&#8242;);<br \/>\n<!-- \/ OptinMonster --><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Here are 13 green sea turtle facts to know before you go!<\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. How big are green sea turtles?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Green sea turtles are the largest hard-shelled marine turtles in the world. They can grow to 5 feet and weigh up to 500 lbs.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. What do green sea turtles eat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Unlike most sea turtles, adult green sea turtles are herbivorous, feeding on seagrass and algae. Juveniles, however, also eat invertebrates like crabs, jellyfish and sponges.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. Key link in the marine food chain<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sea turtles fill an important ecological role in ocean ecosystems by controlling prey species and themselves providing food to larger predators such as fish, sharks and birds.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Conservation Connect: Sea Turtles &amp; the Last Straw for Single-Use Plastics \u2022 Daily Dose of Nature\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-IGr34EYAR0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. What makes green sea turtles green?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The green sea turtle\u2019s carapace, or shell, is usually brown or olive. Their name comes from the greenish color of the fat beneath their skin, due to the algae and grasses they eat.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>5. Older than dinosaurs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sea turtles are reptiles whose ancestors took to the sea about 150 million years ago. They are one of the few species so ancient that they watched the dinosaurs evolve and become extinct.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>6. No place to hide<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Like other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/blog\/celebrating-world-sea-turtle-day\/\">sea turtles<\/a>, the green turtle cannot pull its head into its shell.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>7. How fast can green sea turtles swim?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On land, turtles are slow, but in the water, their powerful flippers allow them to swim gracefully at speeds up to 35 mph!<\/p>\n<h2><strong>8. Sun seekers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Occasionally seen sunbathing alongside seals and albatrosses, the green sea turtle is one of the few marine turtles known to leave the water other than at nesting times.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>9. Where do green sea turtles live?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Though marine turtles live in every ocean but the Arctic, green sea turtles live in tropical and subtropical waters and are commonly found (except when migrating) inside reefs, bays, and inlets.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>10. Baby green sea turtles face a dangerous journey<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Female turtles dig a pit in the sand, fill it with a clutch of 100 to 200 eggs and return to the sea, leaving the eggs to hatch after about two months. Babies hatch at night to avoid predators, but many never reach the sea.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>11. Do sea turtles cry?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Green sea turtles possess a salt excretory gland at the corner of the eye. They may look like they\u2019re crying, but they\u2019re really adjusting their body\u2019s water balance.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>12. Boy or girl? How to predict<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The gender of the hatchlings depends on the sand temperature. Less dense, warmer sand decreases incubation time and results in more female hatchlings.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>13. World Wildlife Fund&#8217;s work with sea turtles<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/species\/sea-turtle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WWF\u2019s work with sea turtles<\/a> seeks to reduce the loss of turtle habitat, the negative impact of bycatch on turtles and illegal trade in turtle products such as meat and eggs. WWF works to protect nesting beaches, promotes ecotourism at sea turtle sites that involve and benefit local communities, lobbies for turtle-friendly fishing practices and supports regional and international agreements to conserve marine turtles.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/blog\/green-sea-turtle-facts\">13 Fascinating Facts About Green Sea Turtles<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/blog\">Good Nature Travel Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Encountering green sea turtles in their natural habitats is an extraordinary privilege. These graceful marine reptiles, currently classified as endangered, face threats ranging from the overharvesting of their eggs and hunting to entanglement in fishing nets, ocean plastic pollution and the loss of crucial nesting habitats. Primarily inhabiting tropical and subtropical waters around the globe, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}