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The '''green sea turtle''' ('''''Chelonia mydas'''''), also known as the '''green turtle''', '''black (sea) turtle''' or '''Pacific green turtle''',<ref>Swash, A. & Still, R. (2005). Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles of the Galápagos Islands. Second Edition. Hampshire, UK:WildGuides Ltd. p.116.</ref> is a large [[species]] of large [[sea turtlesturtle]] of the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Cheloniidae]]. It is the only [[species]] in the [[genus]] '''''Chelonia'''''.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=173833 |taxon=''Chelonia mydas'' |access-date=February 21, 2007}}</ref> Its range extends throughout [[tropical]] and [[subtropical]] seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Pacific Ocean]]s, but it is also found in the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref name="NGeo">{{cite web|url=http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/green-turtle.html|title=Green Sea Turtle (''Chelonia mydas'')|date=December 29, 2005|publisher=National Geographic Society|work=National Geographic – Animals|access-date=February 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205055313/http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/green-turtle.html|archive-date=2007-02-05|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Turtles & Tortoises|last=Ferri|first=Vincenzo|publisher=Firefly Books|year=2002|isbn=978-1-55209-631-4|location=Buffalo, New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/tortoisesturtles0000ferr}}</ref> The common name refers to the usually green [[fat]] found beneath its [[carapace]], due to its diet strictly being seagrass,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Howell |first1=Lyndsey N |last2=Shaver |first2=Donna J. |title=Foraging habits of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |date=2021|volume=8 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2021.658368 |doi-access=free }}</ref> not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black.
The [[Dorsoventral#Dorsal and ventral|dorsoventrally]] flattened body of ''C. mydas'' is covered by a large, teardrop-shaped carapace; it has a pair of large, [[paddle]]-like [[flipper (anatomy)|flippers]]. It is usually lightly colored, although in the eastern Pacific populations, parts of the carapace can be almost black. Unlike other members of its family, such as the [[hawksbill sea turtle]], ''C. mydas'' is mostly [[herbivore|herbivorous]]. The adults usually inhabit shallow [[lagoon]]s, feeding mostly on various species of [[seagrass]]es.<ref name="WildlifeofPakistan"/> The turtles bite off the tips of the blades of seagrass, which keeps the grass healthy.
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|publisher=National Geographic News
|date=November 9, 2010
|access-date=November 9, 2010}}</ref> [[effluent]] from [[harbor]]s near nesting sites may create disturbances; and [[light pollution]] may disorient hatchlings. With chemical pollution present, there is a development of tar balls that is often eaten by green sea turtles in a confusion of their food. Tar balls cause the green sea turtle to intakeingest toxins that can block their guts, displace the liver and intestines causingcause swelling of the tissue, displacing the liver and intestines.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shigenaka |first1=Gary |last2=Milton |first2=Sarah |last3=Lutz |first3=Peter |last4=Shigenaka |first4=Gary |last5=Hoff |first5=Rebecca Z. |last6=Yender |first6=Ruth A. |last7=Mearns |first7=Alan J. |title=Oil and Sea Turtles: Biology, Planning, and Response |date=1 August 2003 |publisher=U.S. Department Of Commerce: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |location=Florida |doi=10.13140/2.1.1774.0486 |pages=35–46 |edition=1 |url=https://www.reefrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/oil-turtle1.pdf |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> Habitat loss usually occurs due to human development of nesting areas. Beach-front construction, land "reclamation" and increased tourism are examples of such development.<ref name="NGeo"/><ref name="WildlifeofPakistan"/> An infectious [[tumor]]-causing disease, [[Turtle fibropapillomatosis|fibropapillomatosis]], is also a problem in some populations. The disease kills a sizeable fraction of those it infects, though some individuals seem to resist the disease.<ref name="Glick2005Smithsonian"/><ref name="Herbst2000">{{cite journal |last =Herbst |first =Lawrence H. |title =Marine Turtle Fibropapillomatosis: Hope Floats in a Sea of Ignorance |journal =Proceedings of the 19th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Conservation and Biology |volume =19 |pages = 39–40 |date=September 2000 |id =NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-443}}</ref><ref name="Moncade2000">{{cite journal |last =Moncada |first =Felix |author2=Adela Prieto |title =Incidence of Fibropapillomas in the Green Turtle (''Chelonia mydas'') in Cuban Waters |journal =Proceedings of the 19th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Conservation and Biology |volume =19 |pages = 40–41 |date=September 2000 |id =NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-443}}</ref> In addition, at least in the Southwestern Atlantic (Río de la Plata, Uruguay), exotic invasive species such as the rapa whelk [[Rapana venosa]], were reported massively bio-fouling immature green turtles, reducing buoyancy, increasing drag, and causing severe injuries to the carapace.<ref>Lezama, C., Carranza, A., Fallabrino, A., Estrades, A., Scarabino, F., & López-Mendilaharsu, M. (2013). Unintended backpackers: bio-fouling of the invasive gastropod Rapana venosa on the green turtle ''Chelonia mydas'' in the Río de la Plata Estuary, Uruguay. Biological invasions, 15(3), 483–487</ref> Because of these threats, many populations are in a vulnerable state.
[[File:Chelonia mydas (poached).jpg|thumb|right|A poached green turtle in [[Costa Rica]]]]
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The [[Mediterranean]] population is listed as critically endangered.<ref name="NGeo"/><ref name="MCSgreen"/> The eastern Pacific, Hawaiian and Southern California subpopulations are designated threatened. Specific Mexican subpopulations are listed as endangered. The Florida population is listed as endangered. The [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] has labeled populations in Pakistan as "rare and declining".<ref name="MTNGroombridge"/>
Since 1999, Thethe [[Florida Aquarium]] has led extensive sea turtle rehabilitation efforts and visitor and community education & conservation platforms to advance sea turtle protection. Over a 20-year period, the Aquariumaquarium received 200 sea turtles, and while not all could be deemed releasablereleased due to the nature of their injuries or illnesses, 180 were successfully released. In 2019, they opened a state-of-the-art Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center in [[Apollo Beach]], Florida. In the first year, The Florida Aquarium Animal Response Team managed the care of 21 sea turtles, initiated new foraging-readiness testing for release candidates in deep-dive tank, and released 14 animals. In 2020, they also initiated a study to better understand how micro-plastics are impacting the sea turtles in their care. In 2016, [[Florida]] enacted extensive protection measures. Florida Statutesstatutes (F.A.C. Rule 68E-1) restrict the take, possession, disturbance, mutilation, destruction, selling, transference, molestation, and harassment of marine turtles, nests or eggs. Protection is also afforded to marine turtle habitat. A specific authorization from Commissioncommission staff is required to conduct scientific, conservation, or educational activities that directly involve marine turtles in or collected from [[Florida]], their nests, hatchlings or parts thereof, regardless of applicant's possession of any federal permit.
In the State of [[Hawaii]], specifically on the Island of Hawai'i (Hawaii County), state representative [[Faye Hanohano]], a Native Hawaiian rights activist, pressed for a measure to delist ''C. mydas'' from protected status so that Native Hawaiians could legally harvest the turtles and possibly their eggs as well. The bill, HCR14, was largely overlooked by the media since at that point it was only a local issue. While the bill was passed in the [[United States House of Representatives]], the [[United States Senate|United States Senate's]] Committee on Energy and Environment refused to hear it, which meant that the bill did not go on to be heard by the Senate.<ref name=bill>{{cite web|last=Callis |first=Tom |url=https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2013/04/04/hawaii-news/turtle-report-months-away/ |title=Turtle report months away |website=Hawaii Tribune Herald |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=25 March 2017}}</ref>
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