Sea Turtles

Sea turtles have streamlined shells and flipper-like legs that are adapted to an aquatic life of swimming and diving.

What species of sea turtles live in the Bay?

Four species of sea turtles are common or occasional visitors to the Bay:

• The loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, is the most common sea turtle found in the Bay, accounting for about 90 percent of its summer sea turtle population. Loggerheads weigh more than 100 pounds, some reaching 200 to 500 pounds or more. They have a heart-shaped, reddish-brown carapace; a creamy yellow plastron; and yellow markings on their legs.
• The Atlantic Ridley, Lepidochelys kempii, has a circular, olive-green carapace and yellow plastron. It is smaller than the loggerhead, growing to about 2 feet long and weighing up to 100 pounds.
• The leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea, is the largest turtle on earth, growing to more than 1,000 pounds. Its carapace and plastron are covered by a dark bluish-black skin, rather than scutes like other turtles.
• The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, has a brown carapace, often mottled with dark markings or blotches. It can grow to 3 to 4 feet and weigh 250 to 450 pounds.

Where do sea turtles live?

Sea turtles are usually found in the lower Bay and its rivers, though they are occasionally spotted in Maryland waters as far north as Kent Island. The turtles — mostly juveniles — begin to enter the Bay in spring and remain through summer and fall, leaving when the first major northeasterly storm of the season drives water temperatures down.

What do sea turtles eat?

Loggerheads eat a variety of foods, including mollusks, jellyfish and horseshoe crabs. Atlantic Ridleys also graze underwater grass beds for fish and blue crabs.

How do sea turtles reproduce?

Sea turtles mate while floating on the surface of the water. They nest in spring and summer on beaches from Virginia to the Caribbean. When a female is ready to lay her eggs, she leaves the water and digs a nest on a suitable sand beach. She lays up to 100 eggs into the nest, then fills in the hole and returns to the sea.

About two months later, the young sea turtles peck their way out of their leathery eggs. After most eggs have hatched, the young simultaneously emerge from the sand at night. Their trek to the sea and beyond is a hazardous one; only a tiny fraction — 0.1 to 1 percent — of these young turtles will survive to adulthood.

Other facts about sea turtles:

• All sea turtles are listed as either "endangered" or "threatened." They face risks from natural predation, boat propellers, shoreline development, accidental capture, ingestion of plastic and destruction of nests.
• Loggerheads that survive the perils of the wild can live for 50 years or more.