![]() Other dangers include coastal development, global warming, beachfront lighting, increased nest predation, pesticides, collisions with watercraft, oil and gas exploration, and human consumption. THREATS: The primary threat to loggerhead populations is incidental capture in fishing gear, particularly longlines and gillnets. Coral reefs and shipwrecks can be popular feeding areas. LIFE CYCLE: A loggerhead's lifespan is estimated to be up to 100 years.įEEDING: Loggerhead sea turtles feed on sponges, jellyfishes, sargassum weed, small gastropods, clams, horseshoe crabs, and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates. Hatchlings emerge at night and immediately begin a period of frenzied activity to avoid waiting predators, racing from nest to surf. Depending on temperatures, eggs incubate for 45 to 95 days. Females return to their own nesting beaches to lay several clutches of eggs between May and August, burying the eggs in coarse sand above the intertidal zone. Other populations breed in the Mediterranean, South Pacific, and Indian oceans, and migrate extensively across these oceans.īREEDING: Loggerhead sea turtles reach sexual maturity around age 30, and they mate at sea. In the North Atlantic, Florida nesters wander up the East Coast each year, returning to nest in the summer. They return to Japan at age 20 or so to nest, with annual travels around the Pacific thereafter. MIGRATION: In the North Pacific, turtles are born in Japan, cross the entire basin, and spend their adolescence off the coast of Baja and southern California. Loggerhead sea turtles in the North Pacific nest in Japan but cross the Pacific Ocean to feed off the coast of North America near Baja, Mexico. In the Atlantic Ocean, they range from Newfoundland to Argentina. RANGE: Loggerhead sea turtles occur throughout the temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Eventually, post-hatchlings are transported by ocean currents farther offshore into deeper waters where they spend the next seven to 12 years, after which they return to coastal areas and continue maturing until adulthood. They are born on land and spend their time as post-hatchlings lingering in areas near the nesting beach. HABITAT: Loggerhead sea turtles inhabit three distinct ecosystems during their lifetimes. ![]() Adults weigh approximately 250 pounds with shells measuring three feet long. These turtles have extremely efficient, short flippers. An adult loggerhead's top shell is slightly heart-shaped with a reddish-brown color the bottom shell is pale yellow. 1996.DESCRIPTION: Loggerhead sea turtles are named for their large heads, which contain powerful jaws and a thick beak. ![]() SeaLife: A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment. " Sea Turtles: Ambassadors of the Sea." State of the World's Sea Turtles, 2008.The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior, and Conservation. " Chelonia mydas." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T4615A11037468, 2004. ![]() Information About Sea Turtles: Green Sea Turtle. " The Navigational Feats of Green Sea Turtles Migrating from Ascension Island Investigated by Satellite Telemetry." Proceedings of the Royal Society B 265 (1998).
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