Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta)

Caretta caretta is found in nearly all the world's temperate and tropical oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. During winter months loggerhead sea turtles migrate to tropical and subtropical waters.

You can observe loggerhead sea turtles at the Çalış Beach in Fethiye. Adult females go ashore to lay eggs and seem to prefer steeply sloped, high energy beaches.

Named for their huge heads and powerful jaws, loggerhead turtles are the largest hard-shelled sea turtles alive today. Generally, the carapace is a reddish-brown hue with olive tones. The plastron is cream to yellow. The skin is dull to reddish brown dorsally and medium to pale yellow around the edges and ventrally. The skin may have some orange coloration as well. The skin of males is more brown and the head more yellow than those of females.

For each nest she must drag herself onto land, where she is in much greater danger of predation, and excavate a nest. Into this nest she lays 110 to 130 round eggs. The eggs incubate for 45 to 80 days, depending on temperature. Loggerhead sea turtles reach sexual maturity at carapace lengths longer than 90 cm, which can occur between 10 and 30 years of age.

Caretta caretta, like all sea turtle species, is in decline. The greatest causes of decline world-wide is probably incidental capture in fishing gear such as long lines, gill nets, shrimp trawls, and direct exploitation of adult turtles and eggs for human food.

Other important causes of decline include beachfront development, human disturbance of nesting females, pesticides, petroleum products (oil spills), and other sea pollutants, human-influenced increases in nest predators such as raccoons, collisions with watercraft, and offshore and channel dredging. Artificial lighting near beaches can confuse emerging hatchlings, causing them to move away from the sea and into hazardous urban areas.