We appreciate your help in gathering data on sea turtles because this information helps us learn more about where and when sea turtles occur in our Pacific waters!Īllen CD, Robbins MN, Eguchi T, Owens DW, Meylan AB, Meylan PA, Kellar NM, Schwenter JA, Nollens HH, LeRoux RA, Dutton PH, Seminoff JA. With more eyes and smartphones with cameras on the water, we are learning more about green turtles in southern California and you can help in this effort! If you see a green turtle or any other sea turtle species, please fill out our Sea Turtle Sightings Survey! This form asks for basic information about your sighting, including the date, time, location, and behavior.
Incidents of boat strikes are increasing in recent years in southern California. High concentrations of heavy metals and organic pollutants have been found in their scutes and blood, yet negative effects have not been found. The largest recorded east Pacific green turtle is from San Diego Bay and weighed 540 lbs (245 kg). While a power plant was in operation (1960-2009), these turtles grew very fast – among the fastest growth rates ever recorded for green turtles. They eat eelgrass and invertebrates that are found within eelgrass beds. There are approximately 60 turtles in San Diego Bay, although the number fluctuates from year to year. 
They often stay in south San Diego Bay unless they are traveling to their nesting beach.
They are long-term residents of San Diego Bay, returning to the bay after nesting. So much so that we can expect green turtles to become a more and more common visitor to our waters for years to come. Fast forward to 2015 and on that same 5-km stretch of beach, more than 1,000 females nested in a single night! Naturally, this has resulted in a major increase in green turtles throughout the region. For example, at Playa Colola, Mexico, the largest green turtle beach in the eastern Pacific, annual nesting in the mid-1980s was close to 250 females per year. However, with the onset of nesting beach protections in the late 1970s, coupled with protection in foraging areas starting in the mid-1990s, green turtles have made a remarkable comeback. Their eggs and meat were prized food items for generations. Green turtles in the eastern Pacific are one of the best conservation success stories!įrom the beginning of the 1900s through the early 1990s they were legally harvested in many areas of the eastern Pacific. Originating from nesting beaches in Mexico, these turtles come to California to take advantage of the productive coastal ecosystems, which are rich in seagrass, algae, and invertebrates. 
Along the coast of Southern California, juvenile and adult green turtles are present in many of the bays, lagoons, and coastal inlets. East Pacific green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
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