Sea Turtle Species Profiles
Loggerhead
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Endangered
- Most common sea turtle in Florida
- Named for its large head
- Feeds on crabs, mollusks, encrusting animals attached to reefs and rocks
- Weighs 200 to 350 pounds and measures about 3 feet in length
- Nests in Florida from April through September
Green
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Endangered
- Named for greenish color of body fat
- Feeds on seagrass and seaweed
- Adult females weigh 300 pounds and are 3-4 feet in length
- Nests in Florida from May through September
Leatherback
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Critically Endangered
- Largest and deepest diving of the sea turtles
- Named for smooth, rubbery shell
- Feeds on jellyfish
- Weighs 700-1500 pounds and measures 4 to 8 feet in length
- Nests in Florida from March through July
Hawksbill
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Critically Endangered
- Has a beautiful shell, which is used for jewelry causing this turtle to be listed internationally as critically endangered
- Feeds on sponges
- Occasional nests are found in Palm Beach County each year
Kemp's ridley
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Critically Endangered
- Smallest of the sea turtles
- Nesting is mainly restricted to a 20-mile stretch of beach in western Gulf of Mexico
- Nesting often occurs in large aggregations during the daylight
- Feeds on blue crabs, clams, mussels, fish and jellyfish
- Adult weighs 85-100 pounds and measures 24-30 inches in length
Olive ridley
- World Conservation Union (IUCN) status - Breeding colony populations on the Pacific Coast of Mexico are listed as endangered; all others are listed as threatened
- Smallest of the sea turtles
- Turtles are an olive/grayish-green with a heart-shaped carapace
- Feeds on algae, lobster, crabs, tunicates, and mollusks
- Adult weighs up to 100 pounds and measures 24-36 inches in length
Australian Flatback
- Australian Commonwealth’s Endangered Species Protection Act - Vulnerable
- Has the smallest geographic range of the seven sea turtle species
- This species lays an average of only 50 eggs per nest, larger hatchlings
- Feeds on sea cucumbers, jellies, soft corals, shrimp, crabs, molluscs, fish, and seaweed
- Adult weighs up to 200 pounds and measures 36 inches in length
Key Terms
Adult - the point in a sea turtle’s life when they reach maturity, some species do not reach adulthood for 25-30 years; all stages of a sea turtle’s life are determined by an international standard of the length of their carapace
Arribadas - Spanish for “arrival by sea;” the synchronized, mass nesting of Kemp’s and olive ridley sea turtles
Blue buttons - a type of planktonic jelly-like animals that are a colony of animal cells, called polyps
Carapace- the upper portion of a turtle’s shell made up of bones and keratinous plates, called scutes
Commensalistic - a relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other does not benefit, but remains unharmed
Copepods - microscopic planktonic crustaceans
Epibiota - plants or animals living on the outside of a sea turtle’s shell
Ghost nets - a fishing net that has been lost in the ocean
Hatchling - the first stage of a sea turtle’s life; all stages of a sea turtle’s life are determined by an international standard of the length of their carapace
Hydroids - small predators related to jellies
Invasive species - an organism that is not native to an ecosystem that causes harm
Juvenile - the third stage of a sea turtle’s life, which they reach after post-hatchling, at this phase of their life, juvenile turtles tend to spend time in nearshore habitats; all stages of a sea turtle’s life are determined by an international standard of the length of their carapace
Light pollution - the presence of artificial man-made light
Longline - a type of commercial fishing where there is a main line that has many other lines with baited hooks attached in order to catch fish
Medusavore - a type of carnivore that specifically consumes jellies
Natal beach - the beach a sea turtle hatches from, females will return to this beach once they reach adulthood to nest
Pineal gland - a small structure in the brain that is part of the endocrine system; in leatherback sea turtles it is thought that their pink spot is associated with the pineal gland and their ability to sense light
Planktonic - plants and animals that do not have the ability to swim, but rather float through the ocean, for example, jellies
Post-Hatchling - the second phase of a sea turtle’s life, which they typically spend in floating sargassum mats while growing; all stages of a sea turtle’s life are determined by an international standard of the length of their carapace
Scute - a thickened plate on the back of a sea turtle, made from keratin
Spacer eggs - small unviable, yolkless eggs laid only by leatherback sea turtles
Subadult - the fourth stage of a sea turtle’s life right before they reach adulthood; all stages of a sea turtle’s life are determined by an international standard of the length of their carapace
Trawl - a large net that is pulled behind a boat in order to catch fish or shrimp
Spongivore - a type of carnivore that feeds specifically on sponges
Tunicates - soft-bodied organisms such as sea squirts