Green sea turtles got their name not from the colour of their shell, which is usually brown or olive, but from the greenish fat inside their bodies. They spend almost their whole lives in the ocean, gliding gracefully through the water using their large front flippers like wings. They can hold their breath for a very long time and dive deep to reach the seagrass they love to eat.
Female turtles do something remarkable: when it is time to lay eggs, they swim back to the very beach where they were born — even if that is thousands of kilometres away. Scientists call this 'natal homing'. On Mohéli, female turtles crawl up the beach at night, dig a hole with their back flippers, lay about 100 eggs the size of ping-pong balls, and then return to the sea.
After about two months, the eggs hatch and tiny baby turtles no bigger than your hand scramble out of the sand and race towards the ocean. It is one of the most amazing sights in nature. Villagers and conservation volunteers on Mohéli help protect the nesting beaches so the turtles can lay their eggs safely each year.