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Marine Species Conservation
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National: Vulnerable
Queensland: Vulnerable
Green turtles occur in seaweed-rich coral reefs and inshore seagrass pastures in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indo-Pacific region.
In Australia, there are four major green turtle nesting areas:
The southern Great Barrier Reef has 13 major rookeries, including North West Island, Wreck Island, Hoskyn Island, Heron Island and the Coral Sea cays.
Nesting occurs between late November and January in southern Queensland.
The northern Great Barrier Reef has five major rookeries, including Raine Island and nearby cays, and Bramble Cay in the Torres Strait.
The southeastern Gulf of Carpentaria has three major rookeries at Bountiful, Pisonia and Rocky Islands.
Large numbers of greens occur in suitable feeding areas along the south-west coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, adjacent to the Sir Edward Pellew Islands.
The north west shelf has widely spread, major rookeries, including the Lacepede Islands, sites north of Broome, and Barrow and the Monte Bello Islands further south.
Small numbers also nest on the National Nature Reserves in the Indian Ocean.
Green turtles nesting along the WA coast migrate from feeding grounds in Indonesia, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Adult greens feed mostly on seaweeds and seagrasses although immature greens are carnivorous.
The entire Great Barrier Reef area is an important feeding area for turtles which nest locally as well as for those which nest in other areas.