The Loggerhead Turtle
From the earliest stages of life, Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) must fight to survive and escape storms and predation by swimming out to sea with no parental care after hatching (Witherington & Salmon 1992). Strategically chosen nesting sites must provide both the right temperatures for sex-determination and be located near a major oceanic current to carry hatchlings out to sea for the next stage of their life (Carr 1987; Wibbels 2002). Little is known of the lifestyle of loggerhead turtles during this time but after about 10 to 20 years, juveniles return to coastal waters to mature and eventually mate (McClellan & Reed 2007).
Image from <http://life-sea.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/life-of-loggerhead-sea-turtle.html>.
The species earn their name “loggerhead” from their oversized heads and powerful jaw that allows them to crush and eat hard-shelled prey like crabs and molluscs (Ernst et al. 1993; Plotkin et al. 1993). Growing up to 1 meter in length and 227 kgs in weight, the Loggerhead is the biggest hard-shelled turtle species on land or sea (Dodd 1998). This reddish-brown sea reptile is globally distributed and can be found both nesting and feeding in waters ranging from temperate to tropical throughout the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea (Spotila 2004).
Figure 1: Loggerhead turtles are globally distributed throughout the temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions of the world in both coastal and pelagic areas of the ocean depending on their current life stage.
Figure 1 image from <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Loggerhead_turtle.png>.