Wildlife

Green Turtle Welfare and Seagrass Ecosystem Welfare

Green sea turtles are the only herbivorous sea turtle, playing a vital ecosystem role in maintaining seagrass meadows while facing serious welfare threats from fisheries and pollution.

Key Facts

Listed as Endangered on IUCN Red List
Feeds primarily on seagrass and algae as adults
Fibropapillomatosis is a viral tumour disease affecting populations worldwide
Populations in Pacific reduced by 95 percent from historical levels
Hawksbill Bay, Barbados holds an important foraging population

Welfare Considerations

Fibropapillomatosis causes large tumours on skin, flippers, and internal organs, seriously impairing welfare and causing debilitation. Entanglement in ghost gear causes drowning and flipper injuries. Ingestion of plastic debris causes gut obstruction. Nesting beach loss from coastal development reduces reproductive habitat availability.

What You Can Do

Support Sea Turtle Conservancy green turtle monitoring programmes
Reduce plastic use to lower ocean plastic pollution
Donate to Chelonia or Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network
Advocate for seagrass meadow protection as turtle foraging habitat