Muse
(n.) a source of inspiration. To think about something carefully and thoroughly.
The first time I saw a green sea turtle was about two years this month at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center. I was in awe. Frozen in a state of wonderment, all I could do was watch them swim in their exhibit called the Light Tower Aquarium. I was impressed by their size at 5 feet and also saddened that they were regulated to a confined habitat.
Monthly Muse: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
The green sea turtle’s conservation status is listed as endangered due to hunting of adults for illegal trade, over harvesting of their eggs, commonly getting caught in fishing nets, habitat loss due to pollution and over development of beaches.
Conservation efforts include working with fisheries to use turtle friendly fishing hooks and to establish protected areas for turtles to migrate and to nest.
Green sea turtles like many other sea turtles make an impressive and extensive migration to nest, commonly to sandy beaches where they were hatched. And once hatched, the baby turtles make another arduous journey. From egg to ocean. 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings survive to adulthood. They face numerous predators even before they emerge from the sandy nests their mothers created for them.
Like many animal and plant species in this world, the green sea turtle has a place in a complex ecosystem. Green sea turtles whom are exclusively herbivorous, feed on grasses and algae. They act as the ocean’s lawn mowers thus increasing seabed productivity. Along with increasing seabed productivity, through digested and recycled waste, green sea turtles increase nutrients for the diverse, marine plant and animal species.
If you would like to read about last month’s muse, please see Monthly Muse- Blue Whale.
Featured Image: Green Sea Turtle, Red Sea photograph by DMITRY MARCHENKO
Sources:
EPIC by DESIGN 
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