Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Aquarium & Marine Realm habitat
Photo: Charles J. Sharp CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Green Sea Turtle
Chelonia mydas
Young Explorer Notes
Three quick things to know about the Green Sea Turtle.
- Superpower
The only sea turtle that is strictly herbivorous as an adult — its diet of seagrass turns its body fat green, the tra…
- Home
Shimmering tanks and tunnels under the sea.
- How to help
Endangered — heroes needed!
Zoos and conservation teams work together to save endangered animals and their habitats.
Fun facts for everyone
- The only sea turtle that is strictly herbivorous as an adult — its diet of seagrass turns its body fat green, the trait that gives the species its name.
- Returns to the exact beach where it was born to nest, often after a 30-year ocean migration of thousands of kilometres.
- Navigates using Earth's magnetic field as an internal compass, sensed through receptors in the head.
- Females may lay 100-200 eggs per clutch and up to nine clutches in a season, before disappearing for several years between breeding cycles.
- IUCN lists the species as Endangered globally despite local recoveries — the Pacific Mexican and Mediterranean populations remain in serious decline.
From the master plan
The Green Sea Turtle is the planned Aquarium & Marine Realm’s quiet star — visible from both the Underwater Tunnel below and the Marine Discovery Deck above, drifting through the main tank with that effortless, oar-stroke elegance unique to sea turtles.
IUCN status sourced from the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) assessment (Seminoff, 2004, re-validated 2023) on the IUCN Red List — listed as Endangered with a continuing population decline.
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