The body of the green sea turtle adapts to their herbivorous adulthood
The green sea turtle pictured here is in a most precarious looking position. Its neck is extended forward over a bed of coral rock, and its head is wedged between the iron ore below the surface. Despite the strained appearance, this sea turtle is well pleased. It is at the surface grabbing a bite to eat. There was a concentration of algae and seagrasses just below the surface of the water that it was aggressively munching on. Due to the fact that the turtle was right along the coast, as each wave came through it would get swept about in the tide. It would then do its best to get back to the same buffet of food to get another bite before the next wave. As you could imagine, this was hard work. The turtle was surfacing for air about every thirty seconds. When it would pop up for a breath, it appeared to be saying hello. You can see a photo of one of these surface rendezvous below.
Algae and seagrasses happen to be the main components of the diet of a green sea turtle. Though that’s not all they eat. Green sea turtles are the only herbivorous species of sea turtle. Herbivores are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating a diet of plant material. The body of the green sea turtle adapts to their herbivorous adulthood. They have serrated jaws that help them to chew the plant life that they consume. As adults they will eat red moss, freshwater red algae, lobster horns (which is a species of algae), sea lettuce, red alga, green seaweed, sea grasses, and crinkle grass.
Surprisingly, as juveniles the green sea turtle is carnivorous. When they are young, their diet consists mostly of fish eggs, sea hare eggs, small invertebrates, echinoderms (which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers), tunicates (which includes sea tulips, sea squirts, sea liver, and sea pork), sponges, worms, and insects. They will also ear fish, hydrozoans (which are very small predatory animals), bryozoans (which are aquatic invertebrate animals), mollusks, and jellyfish.
This particular photo was taken at Secret Cove Beach on the island of Maui in Hawai’i. You can see a photo of the weather there in one of our gallery photos from 2020. To get to the beach you had to go through a small gap in a stone wall that is just off the road. Once through the small walk way, the wall opens up to a gorgeous, albeit small beach. The coastline is rocky except for a narrow sandy pathway that allows snorkelers and turtles alike to make their way to and from the water.
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