In this episode of Mello, we dive deep into the ocean to follow the incredible journey of a green sea turtle—from the moment she hatches beneath the moonlit sand to her epic migration across the sea, and finally, to the wisdom of her long and fulfilled life.

Drift alongside her, feeling the rhythm of the waves, the wonders of the reef, and the pull of the tides that guide her home. With each breath, settle into the patience, love, and instinct that shape her life’s adventure.

So take a deep breath, relax, and mello with us.

Life Cycle of a Green Sea Turtle

How Patience and Love make a Life Fulfilled

Hey! Thanks for dropping by. This is mello, where we answer your seriously goofy questions about the world, take you to faraway places in your imagination, and give you time to meditate.  

This episode, our question comes from Izzy:

Izzy:  “What’s the life cycle of a sea turtle?”

Oh. My. Gosh. Turtles are incredible animals–did you know that turtles can go five years without takes a breath? Quick…let’s try it!

(Take in a quick air of breath…let it out) Okay, a little less than five years. How do turtles do it?? 

Sit back, relax…and mello. 

Let’s start by getting our wiggles out. Go ahead and wiggle. 

That’s right–your toes and arms, your fingers and legs. Wiggle them up and down and all around. Now settle those wiggles into a snuggle. 

As you tuck into your cozy blanket, take a deep breath in, feeling your body fill with calm. As you exhale, whisper to yourself, “I am safe”. With your next inhale, feel your body fill with love. You exhale and whisper to yourself,  “I am loved.”

With your last deep breath, your imagination is now ready for our nighttime adventure. 

(Music plays–soft classical. Soft crunching sounds—an egg hatching, grains of sand shifting. The gentle rush of waves)

The first sound she hears is the ocean. 

Born with an everlasting pull toward it, her small body trudges across the sand under the cover of night, each step instinctive.

(Ocean waves grow slightly louder)

With one final push, she slips into the water for the very first time.

(Silence, except for the waves)

She’s home. 

Coolness surrounds her. The world stretches wide, weightless, endless.

Without hesitation, she sets out toward distant coral reefs nearly a thousand miles away. Not because she has any plan, but because it calls to her–and she listens. 

The currents rise to meet her, guiding her forward, carrying her through the vast sea of blue.

She spends years drifting in the current, feeding off of plankton and other marine organisms. She’s patient, drifting slowly across the water. 

Allow your body to drift with her. Focus on your breath, flowing in and out with the current. Gliding next to her, you feel her calm, and the gentle wake of her fins. 

She meets all kinds of creatures. A hammerhead glides past, sleek and deliberate. A giant blue whale hums in the distance, a song that vibrates through the water. And fish–a lot of them. 

(Sounds of fish swimming by, music)

And then—she arrives.

The reef rises before her, a cathedral of coral stretching as far as the eye can see, alive with movement and color. Schools of fish weave through the maze of branching structures. Light filters through the water, painting shifting patterns on the seafloor.

She hovers between scuttling crabs and cuttlefish, grazing on algae, taking in the marvelous life unfolding around her. This diet helps keep seagrass meadows healthy and happy, providing life to all the little creatures around her. 

(Music, 20 seconds)

Now fully grown, our Green Sea Turtle feels another impulse: this time, for an adventure far greater than the wonders of the ocean. 

She’s going to be a mother. 

She journeys back to the very same beach where she was born, traveling thousands of miles for the hatchlings she can feel growing inside her. 

(Music/water 20 seconds. Sound transition: on the beach)

She comes ashore, her first time out of the water in years. It’s dark. The moonlit beach welcomes her. 

She looks for the perfect spot to lay her eggs, away from the water. She scoops out sand with her big flippers, and settles in, making herself comfortable. 

She lays her eggs…all 150. She covers her precious babies with sand, protecting them. 

The ocean calls to her again. It’s hard to leave. She hopes they grow to be big and strong, and that she’ll meet them someday. If her love could travel through the sand, slip past the walls of their egg, and settle into their hearts, they'd never know another worry. 

After smoothing over the nest one last time, she turns back to the sea. 

(Into the water again. Music 20 seconds)

This journey is one of many she’ll make over the course of her life. Every four years, she’ll make the same voyage to the same beach, lay her eggs, and return to the ocean to feed. 

Sit with this feeling for a moment…the peace, flowing through the water without hurry. Let it relax your body as the years drift by, carried along by the current. 

(Music)

Now seventy-five years old, she nibbles at a bit of grass in an underwater field. The current is soft today.

She drifts a little here and there, memories floating through her mind. Of the friends she’s made, big and small. Of the beaches, the underwater kingdoms, and the vast ocean in between. In her life, she’s traveled enough to circle the earth five times. 

And of course, her babies…a hundred bits of her heart floating across the ocean, discovering the world just as she did. Maybe they’ll circle the earth six times. She hopes so. 

Patient, never rushing, but always moving…her life has been long and fulfilled. Feel that same sense of patience alongside her, and the beauty she created just by following her heart. 

Now, her heart tells her to lay her big, gorgeous shell on a comfy bed of seaweed, whose gentle arms greet her happily. 

After a long day, she could use a rest. She closes her eyes…and goes to sleep.