Green sea turtle migrations
The most-recorded reptile in the sea — sightings hug warm coastlines and seagrass beds around the entire tropical belt, year-round.
See green sea turtle dive sites · zoom in and select a glow to open that coast on the dive map
The green sea turtle year, in real records
The most-recorded reptile in the sea — sightings hug warm coastlines and seagrass beds around the entire tropical belt, year-round. The map above animates 43,888 recorded observations of Chelonia mydas — CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records accessed through GBIF, binned by calendar month, peaking in May. Sightings are history, not a forecast: they show where people have actually seen this animal, which is strong planning context and never a guarantee.
Where the year peaks
The regions holding the most recorded green sea turtle sightings, and the months when each one runs hottest — computed from the same dataset the map animates.
- Eastern Australiayear-round16,060 sightingsdive sites here
- Gulf of MexicoMar–May4,665 sightingsdive sites here
- Western AustraliaJan–Jun3,682 sightingsdive sites here
- Galápagos & eastern PacificFeb–Mar1,980 sightingsdive sites here
- West AfricaJune1,941 sightingsdive sites here
- Coral Triangle & Southeast AsiaSep–Oct1,044 sightingsdive sites here