The green turtle is one of the ocean’s most remarkable travellers. These ancient mariners can hold their breath for up to five hours while resting, slowing their heart rate to just one beat every nine minutes to conserve oxygen.
They migrate thousands of miles across oceans, navigating using the Earth’s magnetic field, and can return to the exact beach where they were born thanks to an internal “GPS” that senses subtle variations in the planet’s magnetic field. Some leatherbacks even clock 12,000-mile round-trip journeys across the Pacific
Temperature shapes their lives from the very start. Surrounding temperatures during incubation determine the sex of baby sea turtles: warmer sand (above 85°F) produces mostly females, while cooler sand (below 85°F) produces mostly males. Even the colour of the sand can influence the nest’s temperature and, ultimately, the hatchlings’ sex.
Green turtles are unique among sea turtles because adults are herbivorous, feeding almost exclusively on seagrass and algae, which gives their fat a greenish hue and their name. Special serrated jaws make it easy to rip and chew their food. Juveniles, however, are omnivorous, eating insects, crustaceans, worms, and seagrass.
Unlike their land-dwelling relatives, sea turtles cannot retract their head or flippers into their shells. Their iconic shells evolved from their ribs into a protective, bony outer skeleton, but they are still vulnerable to predators and threats like marine debris.
Green turtles can live over 80 years, and despite weighing up to 440 pounds, they glide through the water with surprising grace. These gentle giants have survived over 100 million years, outlasting the dinosaurs thanks to adaptability and patience.
What can we learn?
Patience and persistence pay off. Like the green turtle’s epic journey home, success in life and business often requires taking the long view, trusting your internal compass, and staying committed to your purpose even when the destination seems impossibly far away.
More Fishy Friday insights next week