Where to Find Loggerhead Turtles

• Loggerhead sea turtles, named for their large heads and powerful jaws, are the most common sea turtle found in U.S. coastal waters. These turtles, with their reddish brown shells, have been found as far north as Newfoundland in as far south as Argentina in the Atlantic. Pacific loggerheads have been found from Alaska down to Chile; those in feeding grounds off the coast of Mexico may migrate over 7,500 miles to nesting beaches in Japan. Loggerheads also inhabit all but the coldest waters throughout the Indian Ocean and the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea.
  
  

How and Where Loggerheads Feed

• Loggerhead turtles are powerful swimmers, and the calluses on the bases of their flippers give them the traction to move along and forage on the ocean floor. They can be found the open ocean in clear waters, but they also can forage in the mud of bays and bayous along the northern Gulf Coast at shipwreck sites, lagoons, salt marshes, creeks and ship channels. Their strong jaws allow them to feed on hard-shelled prey such as crabs, whelks, conch and the small animals that encrust reefs and rocks. They also eat jellyfish and even seaweed; they may scavenge fish along with other debris, but they are not considered fish-eaters.
  
  

How Biologists Study Loggerheads

• During the nesting season, which can begin as early as April and last through September, female loggerheads return the beaches where they were hatched to nest and lay their eggs. Biologists studying sea turtles seize the opportunity to tag them with plastic or metal markers. In recent years, marine researchers have tagged some loggerheads with radio transmitter tags to track their migration and even the depths of their dives.
  
  For 20 years, researchers have counted loggerhead turtle nests daily during the 109-day season when loggerheads lay their eggs in Florida, which is the scene of 90 percent of the United States loggerhead nesting activity. These studies and long-term studies counting nests in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all show that the turtle population in those states is decreasing. Loggerhead turtles have now been listed as "Endangered" (facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Major threats to loggerhead turtles come from the destruction of their habitat by coastal development, predators attacking their nests, long-line fishing, shrimp trawling and pollution.
  
  

Turtle Watch Programs

• The Archie Carr National Refuge offers sea turtle watch programs during June and July where people can observe sea turtle nesting both in person and online.