Green Sea Turtle

Strength and tenacity

Green sea turtle

The green sea turtle, also known as marine turtle, green turtle, black sea turtle or pacific green turtle has populations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. There are seven existing species of sea turtle. One has a leathery shell and is called the leatherback; and there are six hard-shelled species, the flatback, green, hawksbill, loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley and olive ridley.

Sea turtles are found in waters over continental shelves. They spend most of their time floating in seaweed in which they find food and shelter. Once the sea turtle becomes an adult, it moves closer to the shore. Females come ashore to lay their eggs. A female sea turtle will haul herself onto the beach at night and create a nest by digging a hole in the sand. She will then fill her hole with her clutch of 50-350 eggs. After laying, she re-fills the nest with sand, smooths the surface and camouflages it with vegetation. She may also dig decoy nests. Then she returns to the ocean.

The baby sea turtle’s sex depends on the temperature it is exposed to. Warmer temperatures results in female turtles; cooler temperatures result in male turtles. The eggs incubate for 50-60 days. Baby sea turtles usually hatch at night, they break free of the egg, and then crawl into the sea.

Baby sea turtle

Sea turtles like to bask in the sun on remote islands in the Pacific. They spend a majority of their time underwater, and are able to hold their breath for long periods. They are air breathing reptiles, so they regularly surface to breathe. Their streamlined body allows them to swim swiftly through the water. Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs or head into their shells for protection. Sea turtles also have a special gland that helps to rid its body of excess salt.

Sea turtles are the first biofluorescent reptiles found in the wild. Two marine biologists observed biofluorescence on a hawksbill sea turtle in the Solomon Islands. Biofluorescence could be a strategy for attracting prey or a defence camouflage to hide at night among fluorescent corals.

Turtle Island, Bay of Islands New Zealand

There are a few islands called ‘Turtle Island’, sometimes because they look like turtles or because they are known migratory destinations of sea turtles. Sea turtles migrate over large distances of thousands of miles to reach breeding sites. Migrating turtles possess a bicoordinate magnetic map and compass navigation called Magnetoreception. This internal magnetic map gives sea turtles the ability to maintain a heading or orientation. Adult sea turtles are also able to return to their place of birth to reproduce, a behaviour called natal homing. The exact mechanism for homing is unknown, however there are three theories for this ability: inherited magnetic information, socially facilitated migration, and geomagnetic imprinting.

Juvenile sea turtles are omnivorous, but become herbivorous as they mature. They eat a variety of food including seaweed, sponges, mollusks, worms and fish. They are also natural sea grass lawn mowers. Sea turtle grazing helps maintain healthy sea grass beds which constantly needs to be cut short to help it spread across the sea floor.

Sea turtles have a symbiosis with barnacles. Barnacles don’t harm the turtle except for the fact that they add extra weight and drag to the turtle. Turtle shells are an ideal habitat for them because barnacles are suspension feeders, so turtles provide a constant flow of water and food. Turtles also have long lives, so barnacles don’t have to constantly find new homes. Since turtles travel long distances, they also help barnacles spread its larvae.

All sea turtles except the flatback are endangered. Besides natural threats such as predators or disease, there are many human threats. Some species are targeted for their shells as an ornament. Other human threats include fishing nets, beach pollution, oil spills and marine debris such as plastics. It is illegal to hunt turtles in many countries, however there is some black market poaching of turtle eggs. In the 1700s, sea turtles were almost hunted to extinction because they were considered a delicacy. Since tourists enjoy coming to visit turtle nesting grounds, ecotourism has become a sustainable economic substitute for sea turtle hunting.

Māori turtle symbol Koru Honu

Perhaps because the turtle is soft in the inside and hard on the outside, the Aztec culture regarded turtles as symbolic of cowardice and boastfulness. However, the hard shell could also be a symbol of an exterior strength while maintaining a soft interior or inner vulnerability. The turtle shell can also be a symbol of protection, or symbol of an unbreakable shell of self-determination. Since the sea turtle lives in both land and water, it can be a symbol to keep grounded while at the same time becoming spiritually awakened living in a materialistic world.

In most cultures turtles are usually a good luck symbol or have positive symbolism. Turtles symbolise strength through patience, endurance, perseverance, steadfastness and tenacity. Because of their longevity, they also symbolise health, long life, intelligence, wisdom, respect and respect for elders.

Even though it is a story of a land turtle, we may be reminded of the fable of the race between the Tortoise and the Hare. The story is a reminder that patient people move at their own pace and take their time in doing things. Even if it takes a longer time, one can achieve excellent results in the end. Each step is a steady move forward toward success. Ultimately, progress is made at a slow and steady pace. Patience and a long term vision brings spiritual enlightenment that is gained over time.

World Turtle

In many cultures, the turtle represents travel and navigation. The turtle is also a symbol of earth or a cosmological symbol known as the World Turtle. The idea that the world is on the back of a turtle first appears in Hindu mythology. In Vedic mythology, Kurma is the great turtle that provides the celestial foundation for balancing a mountain. In China, a creator goddess cuts the arms and legs off of a giant turtle named Ao, and uses its shell to support the heavens.

Interestingly, the turtle shell was used as a lunar calendar because the shell of a turtle has 13 sections in the middle (there are 13 lunar months in a year), and 28 sections around the edges (lunar days in a month). The Anishinaabe, Haudensosaunee and Cherokee tribes used the turtle shell as a lunar calendar system.

The Lenape and Iroquois believed that the creator placed the world on the back of a turtle. In their myth, soil was piled on the back of a giant sea turtle which continued to grow until it was carrying the entire world. Many indigenous tribes refer to the North American continent as Turtle Island. How they knew that the North American continent actually looks like a turtle from above is a mystery.

Turtle Island