Loggerhead
Caretta caretta
Also known as: Loggerhead Turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Common Loggerhead Turtle, Loggerhead Seaturtle, Logerhead Sea Turtle
About This Species
A large marine turtle found in warm and temperate coastal waters worldwide, foraging on crabs, molluscs, and other hard-shelled prey over reefs and seagrass beds, and nesting on sandy beaches in summer. Females come ashore at night to dig nest chambers above the tide line, and hatchlings emerge weeks later and make their way to the sea, usually after dark. The best chance of an ethical view is at organised nesting-beach monitoring programmes during the nesting season in its range.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This species is globally listed as Vulnerable, and disturbance during nesting or hatching is a serious risk to reproductive success, so extra caution is warranted here.
- Sea turtles and their nests are protected by law in most range countries, including strict rules against lights, noise, and close approach on nesting beaches, but the specific statutes and penalties differ by jurisdiction, so always follow local guidance or an accredited monitoring programme rather than approaching independently.
- Never use flash photography or torchlight near a nesting female or emerging hatchlings, keep well back, and let trained guides or rangers manage any close encounter.
Seasonal Activity
187,448 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Testudines
- Order
- NaN
- Family
- Cheloniidae
Photo
(c) Falk Viczian Solarboot-Projekte gGmbH, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Falk Viczian Solarboot-Projekte gGmbH
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.