As she strains with the effort, apparent tears flow from a gland near her eyes. With the eggs laid, she fills in the hole and drags herself back to the sea, leaving the eggs to incubate in the sand. About two months later, the young turtles peck their way out of the leathery shells. The Bay, with its rich food supply and extensive shoals, provides ideal habitat for the development of these young animals. Although occasionally sighted in Maryland waters, most turtles remain in the Virginia portion of the Bay where salinities are higher.
Loggerheads eat a variety of foods including horseshoe crabs, jellyfish and mollusks.
They concentrate their feeding around river mouths and areas of the Bay deeper than 13 feet. Kemp's ridleys inhabit the shallower areas, grazing in the flats and feeding on blue crabs amidst the eelgrass beds. The turtles remain in the Bay for the summer and early fall, leaving only when the first major northeasterly storm of the season drives water temperatures down. Years of exploiting these turtles for their meat, shells and eggs has taken a devastating toll on their population numbers. It is now illegal to harm sea turtles or even to collect the shells of dead turtles.