Characteristics

• Colour: Top of the shell reddish/brown and the belly medium

– yellow.

• Flippers are dark brown with white margins.

• Length: 82 to 105 cm.

• Weight: 66 to 101kg.

• Shape: A large, streamlined shell.

• Sea turtles have large upper eyelids that protect their eyes.

• Sea turtles do not have an external ear opening.

• Sea turtles lack teeth.

What it eats

• Primarily feed upon bottom dwelling invertebrates. Loggerheads sometimes scavenge fish or fish parts, but they are not considered fish eaters.

• Their diet consists primarily of crabs, mollusks, shrimps, jellyfish, and vegetation.

Where it lives• They are found worldwide in subtropical and temperate

ocean waters• Many turtles live in near shore waters, coastal bays and

estuaries, but can travel out into open ocean.

• It is found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as

the Mediterranean Sea.

Habitat

• 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.

• Nests are typically made between the high tide line and the dune front.

Adaptation to its environment

• Sea turtles are strong swimmers. Forelimbs are modified into

long, paddle-like flippers for swimming.

• Neck and limbs are nonretractile. The shell adaptations

necessary for retractile limbs would impede rapid swimming.

• Sea turtles can live in seawater with no need for a freshwater

source. They obtain sufficient water from their diet and from

metabolizing seawater.

• Since they are cold-blooded, sea turtles have a slow metabolic

rate. This slowed metabolism allows them to stay submerged

for long periods of time.

Migration• When ocean waters cool, loggerheads must

migrate to warmer areas or hibernate to some degree.

• Loggerheads prepare for reproduction several years before they migrate.

Migration Map Of The Loggerhead Turtle

Bibliography

• http://www.starfish.ch/reef/marine-turtles.html • http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-enviro

nmental/articles/76869.aspx

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle • http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/education/kids_tim

es_turtle_loggerhead.pdf

• http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/sea-turtle/habitat-&-distribution.htm

• http://eu.oceana.org/en/eu/media-reports/features/migration-of-sea-turtles

By Lauren West