What is the primary food of adult green sea turtles?

The primary food of adult green sea turtles is seagrass. As they mature, green sea turtles become mainly herbivorous grazers and spend much of their time in shallow coastal waters where seagrass meadows grow.

Green sea turtles do not hatch as strict vegetarians. Young turtles are more omnivorous and may eat small invertebrates, jellyfish, eggs, fish, and other drifting animals. Their diet changes as they grow, and adults use serrated jaws to crop seagrass and algae from the seafloor.

This grazing has an important ecological effect. By trimming seagrass without removing its roots, green turtles can encourage fresh growth and help maintain productive underwater meadows. Those meadows provide nursery habitat for fish, crustaceans, and many other marine species.

The species’ name refers to the greenish fat beneath its shell, not usually to the color of its carapace. That coloration results largely from the turtle’s plant-rich diet.