Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta
Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta, Juvenile. Turtle collected alive for a photo shoot and then returned to its native environment at the ocean’s edge adjacent the San José Rio, Baja California Sur, January 2011. Size: 6.5 cm (2.6 inches).
The Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is a member of the Chelonidae Family of Sea Turtles and is known in Mexico as tortuga caguama. There are 3 proposed subspecies for this species, based primarily on geographic separation. None of the subspecies is currently recognized.
The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is the world’s largest marine turtle and are recognized by their large heads and strong muscular jaws. They have a large, bony heart-shaped shell (carapace), without ridges, with large rough non-overlapping scales that are reddish brown in color with olive and yellow tinges. They have 5 or more costal (lateral) scutes and 12 or more marginal scutes. The carapace is high in the front, and serrate on the posterior margin. They have 2 pairs of large scales (prefrontals) between their eyelids. The plastron is cream colored with darker gray blotches. The head and shell (both top and underside) have unique patterns which are key to identifying individuals. The front flippers are short and thick with 2 claws; the rear flippers have 2 or 3 claws. The Loggerhead Turtle reach a maximum length of 2.8 m (9 feet 2 inches) and 450 kg (990 lbs) in weight.
The Loggerhead Sea Turtles can be found in brackish water, bays, river mouths, estuaries, in the open ocean far out at sea, coastal waters and within reefs. The males spend their entire lives at sea, leaving land on the day they hatch. They spend most of their time in shallow water, but can be found at depths that exceed 61 m (200 feet). The Loggerheads feed in coastal bays and estuaries and in the shallow water along the continental shelf, consuming crustaceans, fish, invertebrates including cnidarian, echinoderms, mollusks and marine worms, and zooplankton. They mate every second or third year 3 or 4 times per year in 2-week intervals. After mating at sea, females visit the beach during the night, clear an area of debris and dig a nesting hole using their rear flippers, then lay clutches of 40 to 140, 4.1 cm (1.6 inches) white eggs that weigh 22 g, and cover them with sand. After the hours-long process, the female returns to the sea leaving asymmetrical tracks that are easy to identify. Babies hatch at night within 31 days to 65 days. The babies instinctively crawl into the sea, under the cover of darkness; baby turtles that do not reach the water by daybreak are preyed upon by shore birds, shore crabs, and other predators. The Loggerhead Sea Turtle has a lifespan of up to 67 years.
The Loggerhead Sea Turtles inhabit all oceanic waters except the Polar Regions. In Mexican waters the Loggerhead Sea Turtle is a resident of all waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific including the entire Sea of Cortez. Loggerheads found along in coastal Mexican waters were hatched in Japan, migrated across the North Pacific and remain in the Eastern Pacific for decades, until they reach maturity, at which time, they return to Japan to mate and nest. They then live out the rest of their lives in the Central Pacific Ocean.
From a conservation perspective the Loggerhead Sea Turtle is currently considered to be ENDANGERED primarily due to exploitation by humans.
A synonym is Testudo caretta.