Loggerheads are air-breathing reptiles, scientific name Caretta caretta

Loggerheads are the most common sea turtles in Florida

Their food consists of mollusks, crabs and animals that encrust reefs and rocks

Weighing 150-400 pounds, adults can grow to more than three feet in length

Only females return to their natal nesting beaches

Nesting females lay 3-4 clutches per season and only nest every 2-5 years

Nesting occurs from May thru August

The nest cavity is 18-22 inches in depth containing an average of 126 eggs

The eggs take 45-70 days to incubate before the hatchlings emerge

Temperature of the sand determines sex of hatchlings.  Florida produces mostly females.

Hatchlings are two inches long

Hatchlings and nesting females are attracted towards the brightest horizon, which is usually the surf breaking and the moonlight and stars reflecting off of the ocean

Hatchlings swim approximately 50 miles to the weed line and the Gulf Stream and spend their formative years hiding in the Sargasso Seaweed

The eggs must be on land so the embryos can breath air through the egg shell

Only 1 in 10,000 eggs make it to become an adult. Only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings makes it to become an adult.

It takes a minimum of 20 – 25 years for loggerheads to reach sexual maturity.

Lifespan of a loggerhead is not well documented but they may live as long as 80 years