Loggerhead Turtle | Species

Marine Turtle
Loggerhead Turtle

Marine Turtle
Loggerhead Turtle

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Overview
Why They Matter
Threats
What WWF is Doing
How You Can Help
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Overview

Status
Endangered
Scientific Name
Caretta caretta
Weight
about 250 pounds
Length
average 3 feet
Habitats
Oceans

Loggerhead turtles are named for their large heads that support powerful jaw muscles, allowing them to crush hard-shelled prey like clams and sea urchins. They are less likely to be hunted for their meat or shell compared to other marine turtles. Bycatch, the accidental capture of marine animals in fishing gear, is a serious problem for loggerhead turtles because they frequently come in contact with fisheries.

Loggerheads are the most common turtle in the Mediterranean, nesting on beaches from Greece and Turkey to Israel and Libya. Many of their nesting beaches are under threat from tourism development. Marine turtles are the living representatives of a group of reptiles that has existed on Earth and travelled our seas for the last 100 million years. They are a fundamental link in marine ecosystems and help maintain the health of coral reefs and sea grass beds.

Places
Mesoamerican Reef, Coastal East Africa, Gulf of California, Coral Triangle
Habitats
Oceans

Browse Photos & Videos

A Brighter Light on Bycatch

Gillnet fishing, one of the most common forms of fishing in the world, often leads to the accidental capture of non-targeted species. WWF is supporting work to illuminate nets so turtles can avoid swimming into them.

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Why They Matter

The way loggerhead turtles feed on their hard-shelled prey recycles important nutrients and keeps ocean floor sediments in balance. Loggerhead turtles carry colonies of small plants and animals on their shells which serve as important habitat themselves. As many as 100 species of animals and plants have been recorded living on one single loggerhead turtle.

Threats

Extinction Risk Endangered
1. EX
  Extinct
  
  No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
2. EW
  Extinct in the Wild
  
  Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
3. CR
  Critically Endangered
  
  Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
4. EN
  Endangered
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
5. VU
  Vulnerable
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
6. NT
  Near Threatened
  
  Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
7. LC
  Least Concern
  
  Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened

Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of marine turtles a year are accidentally caught in shrimp trawl nets, on longline hooks and in fishing gillnets—a threat known as bycatch. Marine turtles need to reach the surface to breathe, and therefore many drown once caught. Loggerheads are highly migratory and are very likely to come in contact with a fishery, particularly in shrimp gillnets and longlines.

What WWF Is Doing

Volunteers checking a loggerhead turtle nesting site in Turkey

Protecting Marine Turtle Habitat

WWF works around the world to establish marine protected areas (MPA) to ensure marine turtles have a safe place to nest, feed and migrate freely. We encourage governments to strengthen legislation and provide funding for marine turtle protection. WWF also supports the monitoring and patrolling of turtle nests in many parts of the world and helps equip local turtle conservationists. This often leads to ecotourism opportunities and offers alternative livelihoods.

Eliminating Bycatch

WWF aims to reduce turtle bycatch by working with fisheries to switch to more turtle-friendly fishing hooks (“circle” hooks) and advocates for the use of devices that exclude turtles from nets. We run an international competition called Smart Gear to attract creative new ways to solve bycatch problems and to advance those ideas. Winning devices have been designed to minimize the bycatch of turtles on tuna longlines and help turtles avoid gillnets. We work with fishermen to help them save turtles caught in fishing gear. We also use satellite devices to track turtle movements to help prevent future interactions between fisheries and turtles.

Experts

Leigh Henry Senior Policy Advisor, Species Conservation & Advocacy

How You Can Help

Take Action

Tell your members of Congress and President Obama to reject budget proposals that would slash funding for endangered species and tropical forests, clean air and water, and efforts to confront climate change.