Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Caretta caretta · Reptile

The largest hard-shelled turtle, about 90 cm long and 135 kg on average, with a huge head and powerful jaws that crush whelks, conchs, clams and horseshoe crabs; it lives in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean, and moves towards the equator when the water cools. Hatchlings drift in the open sea among floating Sargassum mats; older turtles live along the continental shelf, in estuaries and near coral reefs, and females come ashore only to lay some 110 to 130 eggs per nest, several nests a season. It was once heavily hunted for its meat and eggs, and turtle eggs are still a common meal in Mexico, said to be an aphrodisiac, but eating either can cause serious illness from bacteria and toxic metals.

Danger

Harmless

How it is met

Alone, by day

Size

Medium

In winter

Leaves for winter

Where it lives

Sandy Shore, Estuary, Coastal Shelf, Coral Reef, Open Ocean

Gives

Loggerhead Turtle Egg, Loggerhead Turtle Meat

Sources

• Liz Duermit, Caretta caretta (loggerhead sea turtle). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, 2007.
• Loggerhead sea turtle. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2026.
• Caretta caretta. Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, 2026.

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