Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Loggerhead Sea Turtle facts at a glance

How big is a loggerhead sea turtle?

An adult loggerhead sea turtle measures 1 m long — about 58% of the height of an average adult person (1.73 m) — and weighs around 150 kg, about 2.1× an average adult’s body weight (70 kg).

What is a group of loggerhead sea turtles called?

Explore more animal collective nouns and baby animal names .

Appearance and adaptations

The loggerhead takes its name from its unusually large head and thick, muscular jaws, which give it a bite powerful enough to crush shellfish. Its heart-shaped shell is a warm reddish-brown above and paler yellow beneath, typically reaching around 1 m in length. Adults weigh between 80 and 200 kg, making the loggerhead one of the larger hard-shelled sea turtles. Powerful, flipper-like front limbs propel it through the water at speeds of up to 24 km/h in short bursts.

Diet and feeding

Loggerheads are carnivores whose strong jaws are built for a diet of hard-bodied prey. They eat crabs, molluscs such as whelks and clams, jellyfish, and fish, crushing shells that would defeat most other turtles. Young loggerheads drifting in the open ocean feed near the surface, while adults forage along the seabed of coastal shelves. Their feeding even helps recycle nutrients and shells across the seafloor.

Migration and life at sea

Loggerheads are ocean wanderers that undertake some of the longest migrations of any sea turtle, crossing entire ocean basins between feeding and nesting grounds. Hatchlings ride ocean currents for years in what biologists call the 'lost years', drifting among floating seaweed before returning to coastal waters as juveniles. Adults navigate thousands of kilometres using the Earth's magnetic field as a built-in compass. Remarkably, females return to nest on or near the very beach where they themselves hatched.

Nesting and reproduction

Female loggerheads come ashore on sandy beaches at night, dig a nest with their rear flippers, and lay around a hundred leathery eggs before returning to the sea. A single female may nest several times in a season, then skip several years before breeding again. The temperature of the sand determines the sex of the hatchlings, with warmer nests producing more females. Loggerheads grow slowly and do not reach breeding age until 20 to 30 years old.

Why it is vulnerable

The loggerhead is listed as Vulnerable, having declined across much of its range. Many drown after being caught accidentally in fishing gear such as trawls and longlines, one of the biggest threats to the species. Coastal development and artificial light disorient nesting females and hatchlings, while plastic pollution is often swallowed by mistake. Their slow maturity means populations recover only very slowly from these losses.

Range and habitat

Loggerheads live in temperate and tropical oceans around the world, from the Atlantic and Mediterranean to the Indian and Pacific. They spend most of their lives at sea, occupying open water as juveniles and shallower continental shelves as adults. Major nesting concentrations occur on beaches in places such as the south-eastern United States, Oman, and the Mediterranean. Because they range so widely, their conservation depends on cooperation across many nations.

Did you know? Loggerhead Sea Turtle facts

• Loggerheads are the most common sea turtle in US Atlantic waters, with massive heads for crushing crabs and molluscs.
• 50+ years — maturity takes decades.
• Loggerheads have large heads and reddish-brown shells; greens are herbivorous with smoother shells.
• Conservation: Vulnerable.

Diet & feeding

Loggerhead Sea Turtle feeds primarily as a crabs, molluscs, jellyfish.

Adaptations

• Females lay 100+ eggs in sand — hatchlings race to moonlit water.
• Bycatch, plastic ingestion, and light pollution disorient hatchlings.

Behaviour & ecology

• Females lay 100+ eggs in sand — hatchlings race to moonlit water.
• Bycatch, plastic ingestion, and light pollution disorient hatchlings.

Communication

• Scent marking, body posture, and head-bobbing or tail signals communicate threat and dominance.
• Vocalisations are limited in many reptiles but hissing or bellowing occurs in some groups.

Habitat & range

Temperate and tropical oceans worldwide

Ecological role

Loggerhead Sea Turtle plays a recognised ecological role in temperate and tropical oceans worldwide.

Conservation status of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Sources & references

This guide is compiled and reviewed against established zoological and conservation references. Key sources for the Loggerhead Sea Turtle:

• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

  Conservation status (Vulnerable) reflects the IUCN Red List category for Caretta caretta, most recently assessed in 2017.

• iNaturalist — observations & photos

  Search citizen-science observations and community IDs for Caretta caretta. Useful for range checks and recent sightings — not a substitute for formal Red List status.

• GBIF — occurrence data

  Global Biodiversity Information Facility species search for Caretta caretta. Explore published occurrence records used in range research.

• IUCN Red List — Caretta caretta.

  Conservation status (Vulnerable) and population trends.

• Animal Diversity Web — Caretta caretta. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.

  Life history, morphology, and range.

• Global Animal Guide editorial standards

  How we research, source, review, and update every guide for accuracy.