Loggerhead Sea Turtle

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Theme area: Shark Wreck Reef

Scientific name: Caretta caretta

Class: Reptiles

Continent:

, Asia

, Africa

, North America

, Oceania

, South America

, Europe

Habitat: Coral reefs and open ocean

Diet: Omnivorous

Weight: 100 - 400 Kg

Size: 80 - 120 cm

Loggerheads are the largest of all hard-shelled turtles and named after their huge heads and strong jaws. Their reddish-brown shell is heart-shaped and their front flippers propel them through the water like wings while their hind feet stabilise and steer them.

The Loggerhead is considered key to conservation meaning that other animals in its ecosystem depend on it for their survival. Loggerhead turtles consume invertebrates, whose shells move through their digestive systems and upon excretion, drop to the bottom of the ocean for other animals to feed on as a source of calcium. Predators also depend on loggerhead hatchlings for food, while more than a hundred species of animals such as barnacles, crabs and algae – live on their shells.

Conservation status

Extinct

Extinct in the wild

Critically endangered

Endangered

Vulnerable

Near threatened

Least concern

Insufficient data

Not evaluated

DID YOU KNOW?

Every two or three years, a female turtle may travel over 12,000km back to the beach where she hatched as a baby. And it’s on this very same beach that she lays her own eggs as an adult…