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Loggerhead Turtle
- Colouration
- Carapace dull, uniform brown; plastron dull yellow.
- Dimensions
- The largest example examined by the writer had a carapace 3 feet, 2 inches long; the animal tipped the scales at 303 pounds. Records of larger specimens are not rare.
- Distribution
- Tropical and semi-tropical seas of both hemispheres; an accidental wanderer along the Northern coasts.
- Habits
- Many of these turtles lay their eggs along the Florida coast. The female scoops a hole in the sand, deposits the eggs therein and shovels the sand back over them; she then retires to the sea, paying no more attention to them. These are the only times-in May and early in June, along our shores-that the adult turtle leaves the water; the eggs are deposited above tide-line. Six to eight weeks cover the period of incubation, and as the young turtles hatch they at once seek the water. Their progress is seldom toward the open sea, for they have little power to battle with the surf. They seek shallow inlets and here find partial protection from their many enemies in the shape of the larger fish and the sea birds. While very young, their flippers are wing-like in motions; as the young reptile tires they are folded against the upper portion of the carapace, in much the same manner as a bird tucks back its wings. (See accompanying illustration). The number of eggs deposited is enormous; it varies from fifty to a thousand, according to the size and the age of the female.
Carapace thick and heavy, covered with large, smooth shields, as is the plastron. Head very large, plated; flippers plated, the front pair usually with two nails.
The Loggerhead might possibly be confused with the Green Turtle, owing to the similarity of the shells, but the larger head of the former, the two nails on the front flipper and the almost uniform hue of the carapace, are strong characteristics.
Commercially, the Loggerhead is of much less value than the Green Turtle, yet it is often seen in the markets. A steak from one of these creatures looks much like beef.