Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) is a large marine turtle with a massive head, powerful jaws and a typically reddish-brown shell above yellow-brown skin. Adults average roughly 90 cm in carapace length and around 135 kg, although the largest individuals can approach 200 kg. Identification should combine the documented shell or scale characters with locality, because related reptiles can be similar. All claims are limited to the species accounts opened for this batch (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).

It occurs through the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean, spending most of its life in marine and estuarine water. Females briefly come ashore to dig nests and lay eggs. Its strong jaws process hard-bodied marine prey, while Japanese records include nesting and offshore occurrence (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records). Details not supported at species level are omitted rather than supplied from related reptiles. Japanese occurrence follows the site's catalogue and the cited distribution information, without using any IUCN conservation material (Wikipedia, general species account; Reptile Database).