In 1978, the Hawaiian population of the green turtle was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973. The green sea turtle is the largest hard-shelled sea turtle. One interesting behaviour of the Hawaiian green turtle is its fondness for crawling ashore at isolated sites in order to bask. I did not disturb his rest in the sun taking this photograph.
The eyes of green turtles are round and housed in bony orbits and are located dorsally and anterolaterally. They have overlapping fields of view (binocular vision). The dorsal and ventral eyelids are keratinized and mobile. The secondary lid is also keratinized but not mobile. The nictitating membrane, at the anterior and ventral corner of the eye, also is continuous with conjuctiva. This green turtle has a white, lobe-shaped fibropapilloma tumor at the upper canthus.
The iris of this green turtle is pigmented and iridescent, shimmering like city lights or the many stars within a spiral galaxy.
