Green sea turtles get their name not from the colour of their shell — which is usually brown or olive — but from the green-tinged fat beneath it, coloured by all the sea grass they eat. Their front flippers work like wings, letting them 'fly' through the water with beautiful, slow strokes. Watching one underwater feels a little like watching a bird in slow motion.
Female green turtles return to the same beach where they hatched in order to lay their own eggs — sometimes swimming thousands of kilometres across the ocean to get there. On Tuvalu, they climb onto the quiet beach at night, dig a nest in the sand with their back flippers, and lay around 100 eggs the size of ping-pong balls. Then they head back to the sea.
Baby turtles hatch about two months later. They dig themselves out of the sand and rush to the ocean together. The people of Tuvalu consider seeing baby turtles hatch a very special event. The Funafuti Conservation Area protects the nesting beaches, giving these ancient animals a safe place to carry on their long journey.