This is an authorized adaptation in English of a post in French by @marc-allaria: LA JOURNEE D'UNE TORTUE VERTE !
As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in this post.
Remember that it is Marc who is talking here, not myself Vincent.
All photographs by @marc-allaria
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GREEN SEA TURTLE
MAYOTTE
I am currently taking pictures of green sea turtles. A series of short films on various environmental topics for local television in Mayotte. The opportunity for me to quickly present to you the different activities that make up the daily life of these sea turtles.
Green sea turtles are mostly known to be real grazers of the seagrass beds located on the fringing reefs. In Mayotte, many of these herbaria are located near the mangroves, before the first coral reef. They can stay there for several hours pulling pounds from those green shoots.
But having access to the seagrass beds also means that there is enough water to be able to pass, therefore only at high tide. So what do they do when the tide goes down and no longer allows you to reach the plateau. By quite curious attitudes, sea turtles position themselves above certain coral colonies and get cleaned! These areas are called cleanup sites.
These sites are home to small fish, wrasses, whose activity is to deworm turtles or other large fish by biting on their shells or scales. A real job that gives one better health while providing the other with some food. It's called commensalism.
This cleaning session can last about thirty minutes. Then comes the time of rest for our turtle who will go in search of a shelter, a recess at the feet of the corals in order to rest for a few hours. We can then observe it sweeping its hole with its front and rear legs to make a clean place, then to stand there, the head always placed in the direction of the exit, and the eyes being able to close for a real sleep in apnea.
