Loggerhead sea turtle

02

Size

Adults measure about 2.5 to 3.5 feet (76–107 cm) along the shell and weigh about 200 to 350 pounds.

03

Range & habitat

Loggerheads live in subtropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean. In the Atlantic they range from Newfoundland to Argentina, and in the eastern Pacific from Alaska to Chile. Hatchlings and young turtles spend roughly their first 7 to 15 years in the open ocean, then move to coastal waters. Satellite tracking has shown young loggerheads from Japan and Australia crossing about 8,000 miles of ocean to feed off Baja California, Peru and Chile.

In the US, the Northwest Atlantic population nests mainly on the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina and on the Gulf coasts of Florida and Alabama, with more than 100,000 nests a year. They prefer high-energy, fairly narrow, steeply sloped beaches with coarse sand. Farther north, juveniles are common in summer in New York’s bays and Long Island Sound.

State guides: Florida

04

Diet & predators

Loggerheads are meat-eaters that occasionally eat plant material. Young turtles in the open ocean eat a wide range of floating items, which can include debris such as plastic. In coastal waters, juveniles and adults feed mostly on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, using their heavy jaws to crush shells. In New York waters their diet includes spider, horseshoe and hermit crabs, scallops and moon snails, and turtles feeding near the surface also eat jellyfish.

05

Behavior & seasons

Adult loggerheads travel hundreds to thousands of miles between feeding grounds and nesting beaches, and many that nest in the US migrate from neighboring countries such as the Bahamas, Cuba and Mexico. In New York they are present mainly from May through October, and turtles caught by cold water occasionally wash up cold-stunned in early winter.

Hatchlings head for the brightest horizon, which on a natural beach is the sea. Artificial lights can draw them inland and can also discourage females from coming ashore to nest.

06

Reproduction

In the Northern Hemisphere, loggerheads mate from late March to early June and lay eggs from late April to early September. Females mature at about 35 years and return every 2 to 3 years, usually to the area where they hatched. Each female lays three to five nests a season, sometimes more, about two weeks apart, with about 100 eggs per nest. Nesting is solitary and happens at night. The eggs incubate for about two months, and sand temperature sets the hatchlings’ sex: cooler sand produces males and warmer sand produces females.

07

Conservation

Loggerheads were listed as threatened throughout their range in 1978. In 2011 NOAA Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service split the species into nine distinct population segments. Five, the North Pacific, Mediterranean, Northeast Atlantic, North Indian and South Pacific, are endangered; four, including the Northwest Atlantic population that nests in the US, are threatened. New York lists the loggerhead as threatened. Only two nesting populations in the world have more than 10,000 nesting females a year: peninsular Florida and Oman. The North Pacific population, which nests only in Japan, has declined by 50 to 90 percent over 60 years.

Bycatch in fishing gear is the biggest ongoing threat worldwide. Others include boat strikes, which are increasing near marinas and inlets; loss of nesting beaches to development, shoreline armoring and lighting; pollution and marine debris; harvest of turtles and eggs in some countries; and hotter sand, erosion and storms. See all US endangered and threatened reptiles

Keep reading

Alligator snapping turtle US endangered reptiles All turtles & tortoises

Sources

• NOAA Fisheries — Loggerhead turtle
• New York State DEC — Loggerhead turtle species status assessment
• Florida State Parks — Sea turtles at North Peninsula

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages