EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Explanation:   Exquisitely adapted to ocean life, this Green Sea Turtle was nosing around the docks off Kaua'i, the oldest and northwestern-most of the main Hawaiian Islands.  In Hawaii, adult males and some females migrate to breed in the spring at French Frigate Shoals in the northwestern Hawaiian Island chain.  

Green Sea Turtles (also called just Green Turtles) can grow to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length and weigh 110-300 pounds (50-126 kg).  

Green Turtles are widely distributed in Atlantic and Pacific Ocean waters and nest on tropical and subtropical beaches.  Females may nest only once every 2-3 years but can produce multiple clutches 2-3 weeks apart, each clutch consisting of 100-150 eggs.  

Green Turtle eggs and young are taken by many native predators including ghost crabs, skuas, gulls, and other seabirds.  The eggs also are eaten and collected and used as an aphrodesiac by some people in tropical countries.  The turtles, in turn, eat mainly algae. 

Adult Green Turtles are sometimes taken at sea by tiger sharks.  Some get tangled in gill nets and may drown, unable to surface for air.  Green Turtles are protected by U.S. federal law as a threatened species.  

Green Turtles, like other marine turtles, have increasingly suffered in recent decades from benign but physically debilitating fibropapilloma tumors caused by a virus.   

In a past EPOW, we discussed the vanishing terrestrial native forests of the Hawaiian Islands.  In future EPOW episodes we will continue to explore the plight of native species on these wonderful islands.