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The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is my favorite sea turtle for underwater photography, and got its common name from the layer of green fat that can be found under its shell (I haven’t seen this personally!). Listed as endangered by the IUCN and CITES, the green turtle is protected in most countries throughout its range which extends worldwide in the tropical and sub-tropical seas. The species is mostly herbivorous and seems to prefer to hang out in sunny areas of coral reef and seagrass beds. Contrary to the previous sentence, I once met a green sea turtle in Tubbataha named ‘Buknoy’ that had acquired a taste for pork chops. Apparently vegetarianism is not mandatory within the species, and aside from being a little chunkier than the average green turtle, Buknoy was one of the best underwater photography subjects I’ve ever encountered. A lot of Buknoy photos are in the Tubbataha underwater photography gallery. Most of the other underwater green sea turtle photos were taken on Apo Island near Dumaguete.