Green Sea Turtle
The green sea turtle (scient. Chelonia mydas) has been met very rarely in the Greek seas and there are no indications for nesting on Greek shores. It is also found rarely off the Cretan seas and is the largest sea turtle with hard shell in the world.
It is the only herbivorous sea turtle, feeding primarily on algae. Its name does not come from the color of the turtle, but the color of its fat due to its algae-based diet.
It has a hard carapace with 4 scutes, with beautiful black, gray, brown and yellow shades, while it has a relatively small head. Its length can exceed 120cm, its weight usually reaches 100-150kg, and can live up to 80 years.
It lives permanently in the sea and the females come out on the sandy beach, where they were born, every 2-5 years, to lay 50-240 eggs. The eggs hatch after approximately 2-2.5 months. In the Mediterranean Sea, the green turtles breed in the eastern coasts (south-eastern Turkey and Cyprus).
This species is seriously threatened with extinction worldwide, as it is hunted by humans for its flesh. Moreover, many newborn turtle lose their life after swallowing plastic bags, considering them as food.
