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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
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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…
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