The turtles are fed on an assortment of raw fish, squid, tuna roe, and leafy vegetables to ensure a suitable diet. It is known that under natural conditions the turtles would feed at sargassum (floating seaweed) rafts, possibly on the sargassum itself, on shrimps and crabs they might ingest while eating the sargassum, and any bits of jellyfish or other protein material they might encounter. We have also identified a filamentous seaweed that occurs naturally around the island and is a favorite with the turtles. This is now a major component of their diet. The turtles are fed three times daily, and food is dispersed randomly around the enclosure so that turtles do not become dependant on any particular 'feeding spot'. Care is always taken to ensure all turtles are feeding.

Further research on turtle feeding needs to be done to find out exactly how we can help these wonderful creatures through "head-start" projects with carefully balanced diets. We conducted a very interesting experiment during the first month of feeding: the turtles at Angsana Ihuru enjoyed a fish egg and salad leaf diet, while the turtles at Banyan Tree were fed minced fish and salad leaves. After one month the turtles at Angsana Ihuru had grown faster.