Turtle green

Turtle soup, or GREEN, widely known in many countries due to its delicious meat and incomparable tortoise soup, which is prepared from it. This turtle larger than the rest of the family. Carapace of adult typically has a length of 80-100 cm, and a particularly large specimens - up to 140 cm Weight: up to 200 large turtles, and in rare cases, even 400 kg. Rounded-oval carapace covered with short large horny plates, the edges of which have never overlap each other. The head is covered with green turtles and large symmetrical shields and front of snout rounded. Her eyes are large, like other marine turtles, with a round pupil and a beautiful lenticular slit eyelid, directed backward and upward. The front flippers are usually available on one claw. Males are easily distinguished from females by a flattened and elongated carapace, and especially - at a fraction of the long tail (20 cm). Painting a green turtle on top of olive-green or dark brown, with yellowish spots, often with white bordering. Venter white or yellowish with dark edges on the fins. When at the beginning of the XVI century. Columbus crossed the Caribbean Sea, the huge flocks of green turtles are literally blocked the path of the ships in the Cayman Islands. Struck by the abundance of these animals, they discovered Columbus named the island Las Tortugas. Title is not stuck in the islands, if not preserved turtle herds destroyed years of fishing. Where once it was difficult to hold the ship through the solid mass of the shell is now difficult to find even one turtle. Like the tortoise Galapagos Islands, green turtles were a reliable source of supply for moreprohodtsev, whalers, buccaneers.The sailors salted and dried their meat or kept turtles alive. No wonder they say that green turtles have played an important role in the successful development of the Caribbean.
 In other parts of the area they are also subjected to the intense destruction, and although the area as a whole is extremely extensive, but only in a few places still maintained a high number of these turtles. In the Atlantic green turtle can be seen from the northern coasts of the United States to the shores of Argentina at 38 ° south. sh., from the coastal areas of Great Britain, Belgium and Holland to South African waters. Obviously, to Northern Europe turtles are entered the Gulf Stream jet. In the Indian and Pacific oceans inhabit a separate subspecies (Ch. m. Japonisa), penetrating as far north as Japan and southern California, and to the south - up to 43 ° south. sh.(Chiloe Island off the coast of Chile).
 Although green turtles can be found in the open sea, away from any land, but their permanent residence - the coastal waters, where at a depth of four to six meters extend the rich "pasture" with a thick undergrowth Zostera and Thalasso. These aquatic plants constitute the main food of turtles, and in addition are a variety of algae and occasional jellyfish, mollusks, and arthropods. Particularly attracted to turtles where uneven bottom with rocks output forms caves and cave, where they get on holiday. During the breeding season begins in different parts of the area in the very different times: in the Caribbean - from May to October, on the island of Ascension - from January to June, in Ceylon - from July to November.At this time, the herd of turtles make long-distance migration to the favorite places of oviposition. Study of these migrations has devoted many years to an American herpetologist professor. A. Carr, who described his search in the fascinating book "The windward road", which was translated into Russian. He managed by the survey data and tagging animals to prove that a turtle can cross the straight sea space during migration, perfectly preserving the orientation. For example, turtles, living off the coast of Brazil, swim about 2 thousand miles to lay their eggs on the sandy shore of the island of Ascension. A. Carr believes that they find their way, guided by the smell, which carry the ocean currents, and the sun. Arriving at the breeding sites, turtles mate in coastal waters, and the females crawl ashore at night to lay their eggs.Here, they move with great difficulty, clumsily pushing your body forward with the front legs, and leaving a trail, like a caterpillar track. Once out of the surf line, the female carefully sniffing the sand and choose the right place. Raking the sand front and hind legs, it creates a shallow depression, which then begins to dig a nest. Nest digging its hind legs only, has the shape of the jug, and a depth of about 20 cm consists of laying 70-200 eggs spherical diameter of 5 cm, covered with a leathery shell. During the breeding period each female makes between two and five of these clutches. Burying the nest, she leveled the sand for a long time, masking the location of the nest, and then returned to their native element. However, all these precautions did not save from the clutches of many predators, dig up and eating turtle eggs. Raccoons, ocelots, snakes, jaguars and domestic dogs are ruining the nest of turtles in Costa Rica at the village of Tortuguero, where, according to A. Carr, has remained one of the largest green turtle breeding sites. One and a half or two months the tiny bugs, about 5 cm in length, are selected from the sand and with unusual alacrity rush to the water. Here they are destroying the same raccoons, dogs and ocelots, and in addition, birds of prey. Baby turtles in the water waiting for the pack of voracious predatory fish. Thus, only a few manage to break through these tough cordons. Still, nothing can compare with the damage that brings green turtles people. Turtle eggs are highly regarded in the culinary business, and demand is constantly growing. Therefore, in spite of all prohibitions, poachers have come to the breeding sites of tortoises and dig up the brickwork.Turtle meat is also an exceptional demand everywhere, and extraction of turtles continues.Although there are some restrictions, but the number of turtles continues to fall. Too easy to get these animals: it is enough to turn belly up to the shore the turtle got out - and it becomes completely helpless. To understand how to prepare the famous turtle soup, let us turn to the description of prof. A. Carr, "... the hostess went outside and took off from a branch of the tree sapotovogo enclosed cart with snail meat, eggs and yellow buds. Then went to the house wall, where hung on a nail the bottom plate of green turtles, it is precisely the part that is, so to speak, the basis of turtle soup. Without removing the turtle from a nail, she snapped a few gelatinous bands, located between the sternum. Returning to the kitchen, put a band Sibella cook in a cast iron pot, and a few yellow-marble eggs - in the other. Cut into cubes of about a pound of meat and pieces of it mix them with a small amount of green oil - it is scraped from the upper shell turtles - the same fat, because of which the turtle was named a "green". Then, cut into white and green part of onions, stir it with a snail meat, for lack of pimienta brava Jamaican pepper and sprinkled into hot coconut oil. As long as it all cracked and sprayed on the fire, she took off with the peel eggs, poured water from the pot, in which cooked gelatinous band of turtle meat and eggs are added to the pot, some butter and a couple cloves of garlic crumbed. By this time the top of the meat and fry rouge. By removing excess fat, it shifted the meat in a pot with the eggs and jelly bars, added a cup of water, a little salt and cover with lid. " After half an hour, "the whole house smelled amazing." Quite different is prepared turtle soup, Australian Aborigines, the story of a traveler who took part in a local festival, "kumaori." "We cut off the turtle's head, neck and forelimbs. Hind limbs and viscera, slightly cleaned, put back into the shell of a turtle. Turtle placed vertically into the pit, tail down, and covered with sand. In the next pit bottom paved with stones and lit a big fire. When he went bankrupt, the natives have opened adjacent to the second pit wall, and a turtle shell fell on the rocks down. It covered a thick layer of banana and palm leaves and covered the hole with sand. By morning, the meat was ready. Plastron carefully separated, and in the vast bowl formed by the shell opened a thick, flavorful soup. What price would be willing to pay for gourmets only one plate of food exceptional person who has never tried turtle soup, cooked in the way "kumaori" does not know the taste of this turtle. Made of a dense grass spoons natives drew together brown fat soup with a loud smacking and shouting, expressing his approval. Then came the white meat and the gelatinous mass, which taste is difficult to compare with anything. " In view of such outstanding merit tortoise soup at all ways of making it possible to imagine that further unrestricted fishing will only lead to total destruction of green turtles. Scientists have proposed several measures that will not only save these turtles, but in the future efficient use of their fishing stocks. First of all, it is necessary to prohibit the collection of eggs, catching females do not lay eggs, and to create reserves in the favorite breeding places. Some countries have already adopted such laws, but it is difficult to verify compliance to the endless sandy beaches of the sea coasts.