Green sea turtles are brilliant long-distance swimmers. Some travel more than 2,000 kilometres between the beaches where they feed and the beaches where they nest — distances that would take a person many weeks to walk. Scientists think turtles use Earth's magnetic field like a built-in compass to find their way across the open ocean.
Female green turtles return to nest on the very same beach where they themselves hatched, even after decades at sea. On Kiribati's quiet beaches, turtles come ashore at night to dig nests in the sand and lay their eggs. The eggs look like ping-pong balls and are buried carefully so that the sand's warmth helps them hatch.
The Kiribati people have a traditional relationship with sea turtles and consider them important animals. In local tradition, turtles are respected creatures, and seeing one swimming in the lagoon or nesting on the beach is considered a wonderful event. In the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, turtles find safe places to feed and rest far from disturbance.