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Chelonia mydas

Green Sea Turtle. Chelonia mydas. Your Host: Liz “Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles Rock My Socks” Mitnick. Let’s Review, Folks…. Remember this guy? Don’t be fooled by his front, flipper-like limbs!. TORTOISE. (Of the Mojave Desert Variety). (of the Green variety). Sea Turtle. Remember Crush?.

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Chelonia mydas

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  1. Green Sea Turtle Cheloniamydas Your Host: Liz “Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles Rock My Socks” Mitnick

  2. Let’s Review, Folks… Remember this guy? Don’t be fooled by his front, flipper-like limbs! TORTOISE (Of the Mojave Desert Variety)

  3. (of the Green variety) Sea Turtle

  4. Remember Crush?

  5. Hawaii’s Turtles • Green • Hawksbill • Leatherback • Loggerhead • Olive Ridley

  6. Turtle Terminology carapace plastron

  7. Green Turtle (Honu) • Largest hard-shelled sea turtle • 3 feet carapace length • 300-350 lbs (up to 500) • Black with gold/olive carapace • Orange/yellow plastron • Hatchlings • 25 g, 50 mm • Black carapace, white plastron

  8. The Life of a Honu • Using flippers to dig a body pit then egg cavity, females spend all night making a nest for each clutch • 100 eggs/clutch • 2 months incubating • hatch using egg tooth • leaving nest takes several days • teamwork • leave when sand feels cool (an evolutionary trait) • journey to ocean

  9. Young Life • Feed close to surface • Omnivores • Pelagic plants/animals • Potential threats: • Journey from hot beach to ocean • Tiger sharks and carnivorous fish

  10. They grow up so fast… • Transition to adult habitat • Oceanic beaches • Convergence zones in open ocean • Benthic feeding grounds • Transition to herbivore diet of limu (type of algae)- responsible for body fat/name • Live to ~80 years

  11. Reproduction • Sexual maturity at 20-50 years • Females return to natal beaches every 2-4 years • Lay 2-3 clutches • 100 eggs/clutch • Only at night

  12. French Frigate Shoals • High hatching success in Hawaii • No nest-raiding predators • Travel ~800 miles to nesting grounds • Mate off shores of FFS • Basking

  13. Threats to Adult Green Sea Turtles • Poaching • Fisheries • Marine debris • Habitat Degradation • Fibropapillomatosis ~50% decline in number of nesting females over past century Added to Threatened Species List on July 28, 1978

  14. Protection • International • Illegal trade under Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species (of wild fauna and flora) = CITES • Federal • NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have joint jurisdiction • NMFS: regulations for threat reduction: • Gear modification, changing fishing practices, new technology (turtle excluder devices)

  15. That’s All, Folks!

  16. Sources: http://travel-hawaii.com/Hawaii-Sea-Turtles.html http://www.turtles.org/hawgrnd.htm http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/green.htm http://redbunny.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/03/crush_500.jpg http://www.infotortuga.com/images/chelonia_mydas06.jpg http://www.treehugger.com/mojave-desert-tortoise-01.jpg http://holdenbeachnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/leatherback.jpg http://cdn.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/hires/2009/8-scientiststr.jpg http://www.allthesea.com/img/green-sea-turtle-02.jpg http://www.allthesea.com/img/green-sea-turtle-04.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/3111830067_324b7aefec.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic_zone http://tbsecosystemsold.wikispaces.com/file/view/PelagicZoneDiagram.gif/59246702/PelagicZoneDiagram.gif http://www.earthtrust.org/wlcurric/turtles.html http://www.haveagreenheart.org/images/convergence_zone.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/French_Frigate_Shoals_map.jpg http://www.scubamaui.com/Photos/eggs.gif http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/dailypix/2004/Jun/19/localnews10_b.jpg http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2007/martinel_meli/images/Fibropapillomatosis.jpg http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0003/6960/index_011.jpg http://www.bluebison.net/yosemite/turtle.gif

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