Loggerhead turtles (caretta caretta) are found in coral reefs, bays, and estuaries in tropical and subtropical waters around the world; including coastal Queensland, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Western Australia, including Coral Bay.

Loggerhead turtles are carnivorous, feeding mainly on shellfish, crabs, sea urchins, and jellyfish.

Features include:

o 5 pairs (rarely 6) of large scales on each side (coastal scales)

o Carapace (shell-like protective covering on the back of the turtle) longer than it is wide

o Adult carapace approx. 1.0m

o Reddish-brown to brown in color

The loggerhead turtle has lost between 50 and 80% of its annual nesting population in the last decade. The further loss of just hundreds of large loggerheads may threaten the survival of the species in Australia.

In Australia, loggerhead turtles nest in the southern Great Barrier Reef and adjacent mainland coastal areas. Other important nesting areas are in Western Australia, including Murion Island, Ningaloo (Coral Bay) and further south near Shark Bay.

Females originally tagged near colonies in southeast Queensland have been recaptured in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales, and other parts of Queensland.

Similarly, loggerheads tagged in Western Australia have been recaptured in the Northern Territory, Indonesia and other parts of Western Australia.

Loggerhead turtles nest from late October, peak at late December, and finish nesting at the end of February. Young emerge from nests from late December to around April with most hatching from February to early March.

The loggerhead turtle is one of the most conspicuous turtles on the lower west coast of Western Australia, with resident adult and large subadult turtles sometimes found in the Perth region. Young (after hatching) loggerheads from the breeding beaches of the Gascoyne region are also regularly washed ashore during winter and early spring after westerly storms around the southern and western coasts. from Western Australia.

The main threat to loggerhead turtles nesting on the coasts of Western Australia is the risk of predation of nests and hatchlings by foxes that invaded the Ningaloo coast in the 1940s and early 1950s. Fox baiting programs implemented on nesting beaches off the Ningaloo coast have reduced nest predation rates. The continued improved reproductive success resulting from fox-baiting programs will potentially help numbers recover in the Ningaloo Coast area.

However, there are unresolved regional longline and trawl fisheries interaction issues that affected all stocks.

There is also disturbance of the loggerhead turtles that nest on the mainland due to vehicles circulating on the beaches and uncontrolled tourist interactions.

This page not only has a lot of information on sea turtles, but check out my other related topics, including:

o Life cycle of sea turtles

or Green Turtles

o Sea Turtles in Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef

or Hawksbill turtles