![]() Young loggerheads move to the ocean and, if they survive the gauntlet of predators, are believed to swim to large areas of sargassum (a type of floating seaweed that occurs in warm oceanic waters) to hide and feed until they reach full growth. The Florida coast in the United States is one of the largest loggerhead nesting places.įemales are often aggressive to each other when nesting and may engage in combat over nesting beaches and sites. The turtles are vulnerable to human predation at this time, and their eggs are also taken by humans and various land carnivores. Females come up on shore to excavate turtle nests on the beach and lay their eggs before retreating to the surf again. Loggerhead breeding takes place on land, and it is at this time they are at their most vulnerable. They are large and robust enough to be immune to most predator attacks. Loggerheads sleep resting on an underwater surface when possible. However, they can dive for up to four hours at a time. They spend around 85% of their time underwater, diving for periods from a quarter to a half hour. These turtles are wanderers and highly migratory animals and cover vast areas of the ocean in their travels. They eat a few fish but mostly feed on jellyfish, crustaceans such as crabs, and conch shells. Loggerhead turtles are mostly meat-eaters, though they eat enough sargassum and other kinds of seaweed to count as partly omnivorous. The loggerhead is a hard-shelled turtle, unlike other species of sea turtle which have leathery shells. ![]() Loggerheads are typically 90 centimeters long when fully grown, weighing 135 kilograms, but there have been some exceptional individuals whose length has been confirmed as 280 centimeters (close to 3 meters), and whose weight is 454 kilograms. The animal’s skin shade is somewhere between yellow and brown, depending on the individual. The loggerhead turtle is a hefty oceanic turtle with flippers in place of legs and a sturdy reddish-brown shell. Loggerheads are named for their large head, which is significantly wider than their body. They are the most common sea turtle in the world, with an estimated population of over 2 million. Any injured or ill turtles are treated by our veterinary team for care.Loggerhead turtles are a species of sea turtle that is found in the Atlantic ocean, Pacific, Mediterranean oceans. They’re categorized by species as well as by size – “hatchlings” are under 5 centimeters long, while “post-hatchlings” are 5 centimeters or longer. Many of the Atlantic coast sea turtle rehabilitation facilities are receiving these small turtles.Įach of the babies is carefully assessed by our Healing Center staff and volunteers. Major weather events like hurricanes can waylay baby sea turtles who are in offshore weather disrupted rafts of sargassum or are making their first swim into the ocean, headed to the offshore patches of seaweed that provide them with shelter and food. The group wasn’t unexpected for our team. Made up of species including green, loggerhead and even a few hawksbill sea turtles, the Sea Turtle Preservation Society brought most of the tiny animals from the Cape Canaveral area to the Center on Thursday, September 29. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, more than 200 baby sea turtles were brought to our Sea Turtle Healing Center for care.
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