Loggerhead Turtles

Loggerhead turtles are a common turtle seen around the Whitsundays The species feeds on mollusks, crustaceans, fish, jellyfish, and other small to medium-size marine animals, which they crush with their large and powerful jaws. As with other sea turtles, females return to lay their eggs on or near the same beach where they hatched. Unlike other sea turtles, courtship and mating usually do not take place near the nesting beach, but rather along the migration routes between feeding and breeding grounds.

The loggerhead seaturtle reachs 84 in (213 cm) carapace length and weights up to 1,000 lb (454 kg). The head is quite broad posteriorly and short and round in front, hence the common name. DISTRIBUTION
All tropical and temperate seas but rare in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
HABITAT Mainly shallow marine waters along tropical continental shores but also around some islands. Loggerhead turtles enter bays, creeks, salt marshes, and the mouths of rivers.
BEHAVIOR Loggerhead turtles undertake long migrations, often using warm oceanic currents for dispersal. The story of Nemo follows the migration of a Loggerhead along the Great Barrier reef
Females migrate to nesting areas every two or three years. Adults often aggregate off nesting beaches before migrating back to feeding habitats. Hatchlings and small juveniles are apparently pelagic and associated with floating plants, animals, and flotsam. This species often ventures into temperate waters and nests farther north than any other seaturtle . When in open waters, loggerhead seaturtles often float on the surface, presumably sleeping. Mitochondrial DNA studies have shown that turtles from different nesting regions differ genetically. This finding suggests that females return to the nesting beaches on which they hatched.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
The loggerhead turtle is primarily carnivorous throughout its life. Hatchlings are known to eat jellyfish, snails, crustaceans, insects, and sargassum (an alga), most obtained while the turtle is floating in sargassum mats. Juveniles and adults feed mostly on the bottom and eat sponges, worms, conch and other snails, clams, squid, octopus, barnacles, horseshoe and other crabs, shrimp, sea urchins, fish, and occasionally hatchling seaturtles, algae, and other aquatic plants.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Loggerhead turtles reach maturity between 10 and 30 years of age. Courtship and mating apparently occur most commonly during the migrations to nesting grounds, several weeks before nesting begins, rather than near the nesting beaches. The male circles the female, bites her neck and shoulders, and mounts her shell from behind. The pair typically floats at the surface during copulation. Mating can occur day or night. Females apparently mate several times.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Loggerhead turtles are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.