CityU Web Hacker : Turtle 2007

Turtle

Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins are reptiles of the Order Testudines. The living turtles belong to the crown group Chelonia. Most of their body is shielded by a special bony or cartilagenous shell developed from their ribs.The earliest known turtles being from around 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups. About 300 species are alive today; some are highly endangered.

Green turtle

Chelonia mydas, also named as green turtles, are the largest of all hard-shelled sea turtles. It belongs to the family Cheloniidae, and genus Chelonia. When it grows up, it can grow to more than 3 feet (0.91m) long. The weigh can more than 300 pounds. They are herbivorous and mainly feed on sea grasses and algae. Because of eating sea grasses, they get greenish colored fat. Therefore, the name why called "Green turtle".

Habitat

Green turtles primarily use three types of habitat:

• oceanic beaches (for nesting),
• convergence zones in the open ocean,
• benthic feeding grounds in coastal areas.

Adult females will move from foraging areas to mainland or island nesting beaches for depositing egg. They may travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers each way. After emerging from the nest, baby turtles swim to offshore areas. They will live in there for several years. When they reach a certain size range and strong enough to leave, they travel to nearshore foraging grounds. After that, adult green turtles are almost exclusively herbivores, feeding on sea grasses and algae.

Distribution of Green turtle

The green turtle is globally distributed and generally found in tropical and subtropical waters. There are two major subpopulations of Chelonia mydas, the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific subpopulations. Each population is genetically-distinct. Also,it has its own set of nesting and feeding grounds within the population's known range.

Atlantic subpopulation

Chelonia mydas can generally be found throughout the entire Atlantic Ocean. It can be find as far north as Canada in the Western Atlantic and the British Isles in the east. The subpopulation's southern range is known until past the southern tip of Africa in the east and Argentina in the Western Atlantic. The major nesting sites in the region can be found on various islands in the Caribbean, along the eastern shores of the continental United States, the eastern coast of the South American continent and most notably, on isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

Indo-Pacific subpopulation

In the Pacific, the range of the green turtle reaches as far north as the southern coast of Alaska and as far south as Chile in the east. The turtle's distribution in the Western Pacific is known as far north as Japan and even southern parts of Russia's Pacific coast and as far south as the northern tip of New Zealand and a few islands further south of Tasmania. The turtles can be found throughout the entire range of the Indian Ocean.

What is "CityU Web Hacker"?

CityU

The City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is one of the eight universities in Hong Kong.

Web Hacker

Web Hacker is the "eXtreme Web Designer Award," (aka "CityU Web Hacker" award) created by Dr. Andy Chun at the City University of Hong Kong to encourage students to use a balance of good engineering and good design principles to produce Websites with high usability and accessibility.

Web Designer

My name is Fung Ka Chun. I am a student at BSc (Hons) in Computer Science of The City University of Hong Kong (CityU). Please feel free to contact with me through my blog.

All information, photo and picture belongs to Wikimedia and NOAA Fisheries - Office of Protected Resources -.
Reference sites: Wikimedia - Turtle ; Wikimedia - Green turtle ; NOAA Fisheries -Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Agreement

This website was created as an entry to CityU's "eXtreme Web Designer Award" contest. The authors of this website agree to abide by all the rules and regulations of this contest as specified in: http://www.cs.cityu.edu.hk/~hwchun/extreme/