Loggerhead
Common Name: Loggerhead - named for its exceptionally large head
Scientific Name: Caretta caretta
Status: U.S. - Listed as Threatened (likely to become endangered, in danger of extinction, within the foreseeable future) under the U.S. Federal Endangered Species Act.
International - Listed as Endangered (facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Range: Found in temperate and subtropical waters throughout most of the world, but will range far north and south. Inhabit an enormous range from north to south. In the Western hemisphere they are found as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Argentina.
Size: Typically 32 to 41 inches long (82-105cm).
Weight: Up to 350 pounds.
Characteristics: Head is very large with heavy strong jaws. Carapace is bony without ridges and has large, non-overlapping, rough scutes (scales) present with 5 lateral scute. Carapace is heart shaped Front flippers are short and thick with 2 claws. While the rear flippers can have 2 or 3 claws. Carapace is a reddish-brown with a yellowish-brown plastron. Hatchlings have a dark-brown carapace with flippers pale brown on margins.
Habitat: Prefer to feed in coastal bays and estuaries, as well as in the shallow water along the continental shelves of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Diet: Primarily carnivorous and feed mostly on shellfish that live on the bottom of the ocean. They eat horseshoe crabs, clams, mussels, and other invertebrates. Their powerful jaw muscles help them to easily crush the shellfish.
Nesting: Nest at intervals of 2, 3, or more years. Nests between 4 to 7 times per season. Lays average of between 100 to 126 eggs in each nest. Eggs incubate for about 60 days.
Population Estimate*: 60,000 nesting females.
* Please understand that world wide population numbers for sea turtle species do not exist and that these are estimates of the number of nesting females based on nesting beach monitoring reports and publications from the early to mid 1990s.
Source: CCCTurtle.Org
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