Bio 227: 1: Shell Shocked: The Story of the Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtle [Priya Bhat]

SHELL SHOCKED : The Story of the Eatern Pacific Green Sea Turtle

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/green-sea-turtle-chelonia-mydas-tim-fitzharris.html

Description and Ecology of Organism

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=318

The Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtle is actually not named for their shell color but for the color of their skin, which is a pale green. They have a wide and smooth shell and are one of the largest species of turtles that have been know to grow up to 5 ft long and over 700 pounds. The Eastern Pacific Turtle is also highly migratory, and have a range in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska all the way down to Chile in South America. Unlike other sea turtle, most green turtle only feed on algae and other sea grasses found in shallow coastal waters. (Younger sea turtle have been found to eat jellyfish, crabs and other shellfish.) Green sea turtles are also distinct as they have been known to onshore to sunbathe—one of the only marine sea turtles to go onshore other than to nest. Green sea turtles, like all turtles, mate about every 2-4 years and lay about 100 or 200 eggs on a sandy beach in a pit. When the babies hatch about two months they must to make a fast dash to the ocean, but this journey is highly deadly as there are many predators both on land and in the water that attack the baby turtles.

http://www.factzoo.com/reptiles/green-sea-turtle-large-dynamic-swimmer.html

To see a video of baby turtles making their way to the ocean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEQssLXDDGg

(Above information summarized from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com

/animals/reptiles/green-turtle/)

Geographic and Population Changes

Green sea turtles have been hunted for first their meat, then eggs, and most recently their skin as well which has caused a great decline in their numbers over the past half century. It is thought that most of the nesting grounds for the Eastern Pacific Sea Turtle is near Michoacan, Mexico (which accounts for about a third of the green sea turtle populations) and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. The Green Sea Turtle have been known to migrate from Alaska all the way the down to Chile.

Listing Date and Type of Listing

12 January, 1998 as an Endangered Species

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence

http://coastalcare.org/2011/07/legalized-poaching-turtles-eggs-and-playa-ostional-costa-rica/

One of the main causes of the listing came from the heightened poaching of turtle eggs, skins and the mass fishing of turtles for their meat. Some of the main threats to the Green Sea turtles listed in the plan are debris (pollution and free floating trashing in the ocean), boat collisions (since turtles tend to hang out in shallow water or near the surface where the water is warmer), and incidental capture (or by catch from other mass fishing). Turtles suffer from human development on the same beaches where they nest, which results in loss of habitat and as well light pollution which can confuse the mothers and babies and disorient them when they lay eggs and hatch. As mentioned before they have constantly been poached for their eggs, which are thought to be an aphrodisiac and the green sea turtles also non human predation from possible exotic species.

(Information taken from the Recovery Plan)

http://animal-kid.com/green-sea-turtle-eating.html

Description of Recovery Plan

Some of the main parts of the Recovery Plan entails in the management and protection of nesting habitats for sea turtles by limiting or eliminating lighting sources, limiting the development of nesting habitats, removing exotic species that predate on the eggs and babies, and protecting that environment. The recovery plan also covers lowering the direct intake of turtles by protecting the turtles by law, and educating the public about this problem. The recovery plan also talks about trying to limit the amount of debris in the ocean, and reducing incidental mortality of turtles by monitoring populations.