Green Turtles (chelonia mydas) are found throughout the world in tropical and subtropical waters, algae-rich coral reefs and coastal pastures. Adult greens feed mainly on algae and algae, although immature greens are carnivorous.
Features include:
o 4 pairs of large scales on both sides (coastal scales)
o Does not have thick overlapping scales
o Protective shell coating resembling a shell on the back of a turtle with a high dome
o Adult shell approx. 1.0m
o Color light to dark green with dark spot
There are seven different genetic stocks in Australia, including the Coral Bay area with the coastal reserve of the North-West Shelf off the Pilbara coast, which is the largest group found in Western Australia.
In Western Australia, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 green turtles, which is the most common type of turtle in WA.
The number of green turtles that nest in every season in Western Australia depends on El Niño, so numbers visiting a breeding beach can vary from a few dozen to hundreds in very bad seasons and many thousands during a good season. Their nesting areas are located on the sandy mainland beaches of Ningalu, and in season you can book an optional tour to see it.
Live mature adults can be seen along the edges of the reefs and cliffs in Coral Bay. You can walk along the beach, following the lagoon, about 2 km away, and on the rocks there are some wonderful places where you can sit and watch them. As part of your 11-day tour, if you decide to go on a quad bike, this includes watching turtles. There is also a chance that you will only see scuba diving on the main beach in Coral Bay.
Larger, mostly female adult turtles are collected for food by the aborigines living along the north coast. If turtle eggs are readily available, they will also be collected. Expatriates Torres Strait Islands and other indigenous saltwaters People living outside the country in Western Australian communities, such as the Dampier-Karratha area, are also known as green-turtle hunters.
Indonesian fishermen are also known exploiters of green turtles in Australian waters.
Legal commercial harvesting of turtles has occurred in Western Australia since 1870. In the period from 1931 to 1936, a Cossack factory was operating near the Cossack (near Karratha). It is estimated that up to 2,500 large green turtles were previously taken from all sides of the Dampier archipelago and Montebello islands. In the 1940s, the unregulated green crop of turtles continued to supply soup canneries in Perth and Kazak.
Between 1958 and 1973, fishing for turtles, permitted by state fisheries legislation, operated along the northwest coast. Green turtles were taken to harvest from Coral Bay to the Montebello Islands. It is estimated that at least 60,000 green turtles were caught. Commercial products were mainly exported to European markets.
It is known that the migration of adult greens crosses international borders. For example, breeding female green turtles, labeled and released from the nesting beaches of Western Australia, have been captured in Indonesia.
On this page there is not only a lot of information about sea turtles, but also look at my other related topics, including:
o Life cycle of sea turtles
o Sea turtles in Coral Bay, Ningalu Reef
o Loggerhead Turtles
o Hawksbill Turtles
