Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Caretta caretta

Family: Cheloniidae | Genus: Caretta

The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), also known as the loggerhead turtle, is a large marine reptile species with a reddish-brown upper shell and a yellowish underside. This migratory species inhabits virtually all subtropical and temperate waters around the world. Adult individuals can reach up to 125 cm in length and typically weigh between 70 and 180 kg.

Geographical distribution

The loggerhead sea turtle is a circumtropical migratory species found in almost all subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabits the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Moreover, it travels vast distances by making use of ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream.

Loggerhead turtles hatch on sandy beaches in temperate and subtropical regions, including Florida, Cape Verde and the south-eastern United States. Subsequently, juvenile and subadult turtles migrate towards the Canary Islands to feed, as the archipelago plays a crucial role as a key migration and feeding route, particularly for individuals originating from the North Atlantic.

Habitat

This species can be found in nearly all warm seas and oceans across the planet. In particular, it prefers ecosystems characterised by:

Open ocean environments from birth.

Bays and estuaries as feeding grounds during the juvenile stage.

Deep waters with warm currents that provide food sources such as jellyfish.

Sandy beaches for nesting (exclusively for breeding females).

Lifestyle and behaviour

The loggerhead sea turtle is a migratory species that changes habitat according to its life cycle.

Social behaviour:

Solitary for most of its life.

Occasionally gathers in feeding areas.

Daily activity:

An opportunistic species that adapts to the food resources available.

Dives to feed on benthic organisms.

Uses ocean currents to travel long distances.

Reproduction:

The nesting season takes place during spring and summer, although timing varies depending on latitude and the geographical characteristics of the coastline.
The main nesting beaches are located in Cape Verde and the south-eastern United States.
Females lay between 40 and 190 eggs per nesting event, with an average of 110 eggs.
A female may lay up to 560 eggs per season.
Once sexual maturity is reached (between 10 and 39 years of age), loggerhead turtles undertake breeding migrations between feeding and nesting grounds at intervals of two to three years.
Both males and females carry out reproductive migrations that may cross oceanic regions spanning hundreds to thousands of kilometres.

Relationship with their environment:

This migratory species travels great distances between feeding and breeding areas.
It depends on ocean currents for migration.
Unfortunately, it often mistakes plastic debris for jellyfish, which can lead to serious health problems.

Diet

In the wild

As an omnivorous and opportunistic species, it adapts to the food sources available.
It feeds primarily on invertebrates, including jellyfish, salps, molluscs and crustaceans.
It also consumes bottom-dwelling fish.
Additionally, it occasionally ingests small amounts of vegetation.

Under human care

Its diet consists mainly of fish and molluscs.
It is supplemented with algae-based jelly.

Conservation status

Estado conservación tortuga boba vulnerable

The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is classified as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Population declines and threats to nesting sites result in fewer offspring surviving each year.

Main threats

Accidental capture in fishing gear.

Coastal and marine pollution, including plastic ingestion and entanglement in marine debris.

Loss and degradation of nesting beaches, which can disorient hatchlings.

Climate change, particularly rising sand temperatures on nesting beaches, which affect the sex ratio of hatchlings.