Green Sea Turtle

Photo: MARC MARTIN SOLA · CC BY-NC

Green turtles are abundant around Orango, drawn by the extensive seagrass beds that constitute their primary diet and the undisturbed nesting beaches on the island's Atlantic-facing shores. The Bijagós supports one of the largest green turtle nesting populations in West Africa, and Orango's waters regularly host foraging adults alongside juvenile turtles in the shallower seagrass areas. Their feeding leaves distinctive circular cropped patches in the seagrass, which in turn creates a mosaic habitat that increases biodiversity at smaller spatial scales.