Nesting And Migration of the Atlantic Loggerhead Turtle

Abstract

Tagging evidence shows that female Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles may travel as much as 1000 shoreline miles away from the nesting beach in 10 months.

The nesting procedure of the Atlantic loggerhead is described and illustrated. The loggerhead sometimes nests singly, but more often in aggregations on restricted stretches of beach„ Loggerheads mate in the water just off the nesting beach, though whether before or after nesting, or both, is still unknown. No correlation exists, between the size of the turtle and the time of laying or the number of eggs laid.

The principal nesting range of the subspecies is the mainland coast of North America from about Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to Mexico, emergences have been recorded occasionally on certain northern Caribbean islands and as far South as Costa Rica. The Atlantic and Pacific subspecies of the loggerhead cannot be separated by their marginal laminae