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Green Turtle in Seagrass

Adult green sea turtles spend most of their time grazing in seagrass meadows.
(Clifton Beard, Flickr)

Adult green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) spend most of their time grazing in seagrass meadows. It's estimated that before Columbus arrived in America in 1492, the number of green turtles supported by seagrass meadows was 15 to 20 times the number and biomass of large hooved animals in the Serengeti Desert alive today! But green turtles are now endangered because of hunting, entanglement in fishing nets, pollution, and human development on the beaches where they lay their eggs.