Identification Photos: Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta: The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is a member of the Cheloniidae Family and is the world’s largest marine turtle. It is recognized by its large head and strong muscular jaws. The Loggerhead Turtle has a large, bony, heart-shaped shell, or carapace, without ridges, with large, rough, non-overlapping scales that are reddish brown in color with olive and yellow tinges. The head and shell, both top and underside, have unique patterns which are a key to identification. The front flippers are short and thick with 2 claws; the rear flippers have 2 or 3 claws.

The Loggerhead Turtle reaches 4 feet in length and can weigh up to 250 pounds. It inhabits all oceanic waters except in the polar regions. It can be found in brackish water, bays, river mouths, estuaries, oceans far out at sea, coasts, and reefs. The males spend their entire lives at sea, leaving land on the day they hatch. The Loggerhead Turtle feeds in coastal bays and estuaries and in the shallow water along the continental shelf, eating fish, crustaceans, zooplankton and invertebrates such as mollusks, echinoderms, and marine worms. Mating occurs in the spring and summer in surface waters offshore from the nesting beaches. Females crawl onto undisturbed, sandy nesting beaches during the night. After climbing above the high tide line, they dig holes with their front limbs, lay 40 to 140 eggs in the nest, and then bury the eggs. The eggs are white, approximately 22 grams and 1.6 inches in size. They incubate for 31 to 65 days and the hatchlings move quickly to the water under the cover of darkness. A female normally establishes 3 to 4 nests per year at 14-day intervals and only nests every second or third year.

The Loggerhead Turtle is currently listed in the United States as a Threatened Species and internationally as an Endangered Species. There has been a population reduction of at least 80 percent over the last 10 years. Currently, the total population is estimated to be between 100,000 and 150,000. Key factors contributing to the Loggerhead Turtle's decline are the loss of habitat due to human coastal development, pollution from human garbage, accidental capture by shrimp trawlers and longliners, and nest robbing by humans and predators. Coastal development has also added artificial light, which causes disorientation of nesting females.

Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta: Laying eggs at La Capilla, East Cape, Baja California Sur, Mexico 2001. Photo courtesy Baja On The Fly. Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta: At Bahia de los Angeles (L.A. Bay), Baja California, Mexico. Photo courtesy Mitchell Rose.