Natural History: Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)

In May of 2001 Caretta, a logger sea turtle, became a resident of the Great Ocean Tank at the South Carolina Aquarium.  She originally hatched on a beach in Florida. Upon hatching, a tourist took her illegally to Canada after vacationing.  Once too big she was taken to an aquarium in Canada.  After her second move to another aquarium, she was discovered to be an illegal resident, lacking the proper paperwork, and she was sent back to the US, specifically to the SC Aquarium to permanently reside in the Great Ocean Tank.

Loggerhead sea turtles are oceanic turtles of the Cheloniidae family, and they are distributed throughout the world.  They generally grow to sizes of 35" long and weigh around 300lbs, but larger sizes of 110" and 1,000lbs have been recorded. Adult males tend to have thicker tails and shorter plastrons than that of adult females. They spend most of their lives in saltwater estuarine habitats with females briefly coming to shore in order to lay there eggs.  They are an omnivorous species feeding primarily on bottom dwelling invertebrates.  I can recall a time, only a few years ago, when I was scuba diving during one of Florida's rare "lobster-walks" when I found myself competing with a local loggerhead turtle for some other the larger lobsters.  I would go to tickle one into my net but before I could get close enough, the turtle would bump me out of the way and take the lobster for itself. All and all it was a pretty interesting experience.  Of course, being the gentleman I am and the turtle being on the endangered species list, I allowed him to his desired pick of the lobsters.

Growing up in South Florida, I have become quite familiar with the different species of sea turtles. Loggerheads are generally the most common in the area where I was raised.  These turtles, along with many other species, can be found nesting on the beaches of Florida during a full moon on an early summer night.  And if one is really lucky, they may get a chance to watch that same nest hatch.

Upon hatching these turtles are generally 2" long and weigh almost an ounce.  The sex of the animal is determined by the incubation temperatures during the sex determining period of development.  It takes approximately 80 days from the night of hatching for these animals to develop and be ready to hatch.  With hundreds of baby sea turtles making a fast break for the shoreline, this can be quite a site as well as quite the little feeding frenzy.  Many don't ever make it to the water, with the majority of predators being crabs and different types of sea-birds. Those who do make it will be proposed with the challenge of moving through the next stages of their life cycle, with some of these individuals living as long as 70 years!

When ocean waters cool, mature loggerheads migrate to warmer areas.  They prepare for reproduction in their foraging areas, and this will take place for several years before migrating to the place of reproduction.  Mating periods for this species may last up to six weeks.  After reproduction, a nesting female will lay an average of about 4 different egg clutches, but will cease nesting for the next two or three years.