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PDF Version of Factsheet - 104KB

Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)

Graphic Credit - NOAA, Jack Javech

FAMILY: Cheloniidae

STATUS: The loggerhead sea turtle was initially listed as threatened throughout its range (Federal

Register, July 28, 1978). On September 22, 2011, the listing was revised from a single global

threatened species to a listing of nine Distinct Population Segments (DPS); four listed as threatened

(Northwest Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, Southwest Indian Ocean, Southeast Indo-Pacific

Ocean, and South Atlantic Ocean DPSs) and five listed as endangered (Northeast Atlantic Ocean,

Mediterranean Sea, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, and North Indian Ocean DPSs).

DESCRIPTION: The loggerhead is characterized by a large head with blunt jaws. The carapace and

flippers are a reddish-brown color; the plastron is yellow. The carapace has five pairs of costal scutes

with the first touching the nuchal scute. There are three large inframarginal scutes on each of the

bridges between the plastron and carapace. Adults grow to an average weight of about 200 pounds

and an average length of 3 feet. The species feeds on mollusks, crustaceans, fish, and other marine

animals.

HABITAT: The loggerhead is widely distributed within its range. It may be found hundreds of miles

out to sea, as well as in inshore areas such as bays, lagoons, salt marshes, creeks, ship channels,

and the mouths of large rivers. Coral reefs, rocky places, and ship wrecks are often used as feeding

areas. Nesting occurs mainly on open beaches or along narrow bays having suitable sand, and it is

often in association with other species of sea turtles. Most loggerhead hatchlings originating from

U.S. beaches are believed to lead a pelagic existence in the North Atlantic gyre for an extended

period of time, perhaps as long as 7 to 12 years, and are best known from the eastern Atlantic near

the Azores and Madeira. Post-hatchlings have been found floating at sea in association with

Sargassum rafts. Once they reach a certain size, these juvenile loggerheads begin recruiting to

coastal areas in the western Atlantic where they become benthic feeders in lagoons, estuaries,

bays, river mouths, and shallow coastal waters. These juveniles occupy coastal feeding grounds for

about 13 to 20 years before maturing and making their first reproductive migration, the females

returning to their natal beach to nest.
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CRITICAL HABITAT: None designated.

REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: The U.S. nesting season occurs from April through

September, with a peak in June and July. Nesting occurs primarily at night. Loggerheads are known

to nest from one to seven times within a nesting season (mean is about 4.1 nests per season) at

intervals of approximately 14 days. Mean clutch size varies from about 100 to 126 along the

southeastern U.S. coast. Incubation duration ranges from about 42 to 75 days, depending on

incubation temperatures, but averages 55-60 days for most clutches in Florida. Hatchlings generally

emerge at night. Remigration intervals of 2 to 3 years are most common in nesting loggerheads, but

remigration can vary from 1 to 7 years. Age at sexual maturity is believed to be about 32 to 35

years.

RANGE AND POPULATION LEVEL: The loggerhead occurs throughout the temperate and tropical

regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. However, the majority of loggerhead nesting is at

the western rims of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The most recent reviews show that only two

loggerhead nesting aggregations have greater than 10,000 females nesting per year: South Florida

(U.S.) and Masirah (Oman). Those nesting aggregations with 1,000 to 9,999 females nesting each

year are Georgia through North Carolina (U.S.), Quintana Roo and Yucatán (Mexico), Brazil, Cape

Verde Islands (Cape Verde, eastern Atlantic off Africa), and Western Australia (Australia). Smaller

nesting aggregations with 100 to 999 nesting females annually occur in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

(U.S.), Dry Tortugas (U.S.), Cay Sal Bank (The Bahamas), Tongaland (South Africa), Mozambique,

Arabian Sea Coast (Oman), Halaniyat Islands (Oman), Cyprus, Peloponnesus (Greece), Island of

Zakynthos (Greece), Turkey, Queensland (Australia), and Japan. Loggerheads nest within the U.S.

from Texas to Virginia, although the largest nesting concentrations are found in Florida, Georgia,

South Carolina, and North Carolina. About 80 percent of loggerhead nesting in the southeastern

U.S. occurs in six Florida counties (Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and

Broward Counties). Total estimated nesting in the U.S. has fluctuated between 47,000 and 90,000

nests each year over the past two decades. Adult loggerheads are known to make considerable

migrations between foraging areas and nesting beaches. During non-nesting years, adult females

from U.S. beaches are distributed in waters off the eastern U.S. and throughout the Gulf of Mexico,

Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Yucatan.

Five recovery units have been identified in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS based on genetic

differences and a combination of geographic distribution of nesting densities, geographic separation,

and geopolitical boundaries. Recovery units are subunits of a listed species that are geographically

or otherwise identifiable and essential to the recovery of the species. Recovery units are individually

necessary to conserve genetic robustness, demographic robustness, important life history stages, or

some other feature necessary for long-term sustainability of the species. The five recovery units

identified in the Northwest Atlantic are: (1) Northern Recovery Unit - defined as loggerheads

originating from nesting beaches from the Florida-Georgia border through southern Virginia (the

northern extent of the nesting range); (2) Peninsula Florida Recovery Unit - defined as loggerheads

originating from nesting beaches from the Florida-Georgia border through Pinellas County on the

west coast of Florida, excluding the islands west of Key West, Florida; (3) Dry Tortugas Recovery

Unit - defined as loggerheads originating from nesting beaches throughout the islands located west of

Key West, Florida; (4) Northern Gulf of Mexico Recovery Unit - defined as loggerheads originating

from nesting beaches from Franklin County on the northwest Gulf coast of Florida through Texas;

and (5) Greater Caribbean Recovery Unit - composed of loggerheads originating from all other nesting

assemblages within the Greater Caribbean (Mexico through French Guiana, The Bahamas, Lesser

Antilles, and Greater Antilles).

REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS: Threats include loss or degradation of nesting habitat from

coastal development and beach armoring; disorientation of hatchlings by beachfront lighting; nest

predation by native and non-native predators; degradation of foraging habitat; marine pollution and

debris; watercraft strikes; disease; and incidental take from channel dredging and commercial

trawling, longline, and gill net fisheries. There is particular concern about the extensive incidental

take of juvenile loggerheads in the eastern Atlantic by longline fishing vessels from several countries.

MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION: In the southeastern U.S., major nest protection efforts and

beach habitat protection are underway for most of the significant nesting areas, and significant

progress has been made in reducing mortality from commercial fisheries in U.S. waters with the

enforcement of turtle excluder device regulations. Many coastal counties and communities in

Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have developed lighting ordinances to reduce hatchling

disorientations. Important U.S. nesting beaches have been and continue to be acquired for long-term

protection. The migratory nature of loggerheads severely compromises these efforts once they move

outside U.S. waters, however, since legal and illegal fisheries activities in some countries are

causing high mortality of loggerheads from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean DPS. Due to the long

range migratory movements of sea turtles between nesting beaches and foraging areas, long-term
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international cooperation is absolutely essential for recovery and stability of nesting populations.

SUGGESTED REFERENCES:

Dodd, C.K., Jr. 1988. Synopsis of the biological data on the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta

(Linnaeus 1758). Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report 88(14).

Lutz, P.L., and J.A. Musick (eds.). 1997. The Biology of Sea Turtles. CRC Press, Inc., Boca

Raton, FL.

Lutz, P.L., J.A. Musick, and J. Wyneken (eds.). 2003. The Biology of Sea Turtles, Volume 2. CRC

Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.

National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S.

Pacific populations of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). National Marine Fisheries Service,

Silver Spring, MD.

National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2008. Recovery plan for the

Northwest Atlantic population of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), second revision.

National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD.

Turtle Expert Working Group. 2009. An assessment of the loggerhead turtle population in the

western North Atlantic Ocean. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-575.

Witherington, B., R. Herren, and M. Bresette. 2006. Caretta caretta – loggerhead sea turtle.

Chelonian Research Monographs 3:74-89.

For more information please contact:

National Sea Turtle Coordinator

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

7915 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200

Jacksonville, Florida 32256

Telephone: (904) 731-3336

Fax: (904) 731-3045

Email: seaturtle @ fws.gov

Program Officer, Marine Turtle Conservation Fund

Division of International Conservation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS100

Arlington, VA 22203

Phone: (703) 358-2277

Fax: (703) 358-2115

Last Updated: February 2012

Last Reviewed: February 2012

PDF Version of Factsheet - 104KB

Actions

Final Designation of Nine Loggerhead Distinct Population Segments and Listing of Each

Federal Register Notice of final decision - PDF - 888KB

07/12/2007 CBD et. al. Petition - PDF, 165KB

11/15/2007 CBD et. al. Petition - PDF, 297KB

Reports

2009 Loggerhead Sea Turtle Status Review

2007 Endangered Species Act (ESA) Sea Turtle Five-Year Reviews Index

Frequently Asked Questions related to the 2007 five-year reviews

Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) 2009 status review: Loggerhead Biological

Review Team Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service
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General Information

Loggerhead Sea Turtle General Recovery Information - U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

resources for information on the loggerhead sea turtle and its recovery.

Recovery Plans

2008 Northwest Atlantic Population of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle , Second Revision<

2008 NW Atlantic Loggerhead Recovery Plan - PDF 2.0MB

Executive Summary

Download Annotated Threats Tables Here

Press Release

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: March 23, 2012