LIFE HISTORY light reflecting off the ocean, to Sea turtles are among the largest All sea turtles have a similar life find their way. Please click here for reptiles in the world and inhabit history. Since loggerheads are the video footage of this emergence: almost every ocean. Fossil evidence most common species found in http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/ indicates sea turtles shared the South Carolina, the following life videos/silentboil.htm. Once they Earth with dinosaurs over 210 history information is specific to reach the ocean, they swim million years ago. Sea turtles are this species. The reproductive continuously for about 36 hours to cold-blooded, air breathing, egg season begins when males and escape predators that may prey on laying reptiles that deposit their females mate in early spring. them in coastal waters. They swim eggs on dry, sandy beaches. Sea Females crawl onto the beach offshore in search of large clumps turtles differ from freshwater turtles at night, 30 days after breeding, of Sargassum seaweed where they because they have flippers instead from May to August and deposit are camouflaged while feeding on of feet, cannot retract their heads an average of 120 white, leathery a variety of small invertebrates. and spend all of their life in salt eggs similar in appearance and During the next 10 – 12 years water, except when females come size to a ping pong ball. They they lead a pelagic existence and ashore to lay eggs. There are deposit these eggs in a nest cavity float actively and passively in the seven species of sea turtles in the that is approximately 18 inches North Atlantic Ocean gyre. Once world. They are the loggerhead, they reach approximately 20 Kemp’s ridley, green, leatherback, inches in shell length, they move Australian flatback, hawksbill and back into coastal waters along olive ridley. The loggerhead, Kemp’s the Continental Shelf and begin ridley, green and leatherback sea feeding on bottom prey such as turtles can be found in South crabs and mollusks. They spend Carolina’s near shore waters April the rest of their juvenile and through November or nesting on our adult lives in these Shelf waters. beaches from May through October. Loggerheads are the most common sea turtle found in our state’s coastal Loggerhead laying eggs waters and nesting on our beaches. photographer Tom Murphy Sea turtle nests and strandings in South Carolina can be followed in deep. The cavity is dug with their real time on the SCDNR Sea Turtle hind flippers in the dry sand Program web site: above the high tide line. Each http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/. female will nest, on average, four times per season with two- Loggerhead hatchling week intervals between each photographer Barbara Bergwerf nesting event. The eggs incubate for approximately 60 days and THREATS during this time are susceptible Sea turtles face many natural and to predation by raccoons, feral human-caused threats during hogs, coyotes and ghost crabs. all stages of their life cycle. The The temperature of the nest primary natural predator of during the second trimester of juvenile and adult sea turtles is incubation will determine the the shark. A significant threat is sex of the hatchlings. Hatchlings accidental capture in commercial emerge from the nest at night and fisheries. Long line fishing, gill nets Loggerhead sea turtle crawl towards the ocean using and bottom trawling can result in photographer DuBose Griffin several cues, primarily celestial the lethal capture of sea turtles.

1 States. They were designated as the official South Carolina state reptile in 1988. Loggerheads are named for their massive heads and powerful jaws that enable them to feed on hard-shelled prey, such as whelks, crustaceans, arthropods and conch. Loggerhead turtles have an oval-shaped carapace that is dark reddish-brown while their flippers and lower plastron are light yellow. Adult loggerheads can weigh as much 300 pounds and reach up to four feet in shell length. Loggerhead nesting has been well documented and has averaged 3,042 nests per year over the last 10 years in South Carolina. For more specific information on loggerhead sea turtles, please visit the following Web pages: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/ cc.htm, and http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/ Loggerheadturtle.pdf.

Image credit: Commonwealth of Australia / GBRMPA

The use of Turtle Excluder Devices dynamic beaches landward. When (TEDs) by shrimpers has reduced this occurs on developed beaches, the occurrence of sea turtle deaths. nesting habitat is lost when sand However, these species still face cannot migrate landward because Loggerhead sea turtle many challenges for survival. of infrastructure or when beaches photographer Tom Murphy Collisions with boats, including are armored to protect property. propellers, are becoming a Warming temperatures can also Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys significant problem as coastal areas alter the natural ratio of male to kempii) are the smallest and rarest continue to develop. Artificial female turtles that are produced in of the seven sea turtle species, light visible from the beach is a nest. weighing approximately 100 harmful because it deters nesting pounds and as adults, growing to adults and disorients emerging PROTECTION two feet in shell length. Adults hatchlings, causing them to wander All four species of sea turtles found have a round grayish-black to away from the ocean. Disoriented in South Carolina are protected by olive carapace (which lightens in hatchlings are more susceptible state and federal law, principally color as the turtle ages) that is as to nocturnal predators. Pollution by the US Endangered Species Act wide as it is long. They feed on can cause sea turtle mortality. of 1973. Additionally, all species fast swimming crabs, such as blue For example, plastic bags may be of sea turtles are protected by the crabs (Callinectes sapidus). Kemp’s mistaken as food and ingested, Convention on International Trade ridleys nest primarily near Rancho and sea turtles can become in Endangered Species (CITES). Nuevo, Mexico. They do not entangled in monofilament line. They are also listed as endangered typically nest in South Carolina but Beachfront development interferes or vulnerable by the International juveniles can be found in inshore with the natural erosion and Union for the Conservation of and near shore waters from April accretion along dynamic barrier Nature (IUCN). through November. However, a islands which results in the loss of ENDEMIC SEA TURTLES Kemp’s ridley nest was recorded on nesting habitat. Climate change is Loggerheads (Caretta caretta) Litchfield by the Sea in 1992 and a threat to sea turtles, especially are the most widespread and South Litchfield in 2008 (less than when coupled with beachfront commonly found sea turtle that a mile from the 1992 nest site). For development. Rising oceans move nests in the southeastern United more specific information on Kemp’s

2 ridley sea turtles, please visit the following Web pages: INTERESTING SEA TURTLE FACTS http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/lk.htm • Sea turtles are revered in many cultures. Around the world there are and numerous indigenous tales and legends that depict turtles as guardians http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/ or creators of life on Earth. In Hawaii, the turtle is a symbol of good ResidentJuvenileSeaTurtleGuild.pdf. luck and a Hindu symbol depicts the world as resting on the back of a turtle. • Leatherbacks dive deeper than any other turtle species with recorded dive depths of up to 4,000 feet. Given the pressure and temperature at this depth, this is a remarkable dive for any air breathing vertebrate. • Loggerhead hatchlings born on the beaches of South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia live the first years of their lives in the pelagic environment off the west coast of Africa. • It takes loggerheads 25 – 30 years to mature and reproduce. You Kemp’s ridley sea turtle cannot age a turtle and no one knows exactly how long they live. photographers Phil and Mary Schneider • About 100 species of animals and plants have been recorded living on one single loggerhead, making them an entire mobile, living, breathing Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) ecosystem. are the largest hard-shelled sea turtle species. Their common • The smallest sea turtle is the Kemp’s ridley. The largest recorded name is derived from the green leatherback was found stranded on the coast of Wales in 1988 and fat, or calipee, in their body due to weighed roughly 2,020 pounds. their herbivorous diet. They have a serrated jaw for tearing grass, SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION AND ETHICS weigh approximately 300 - 350 Biologists urge the public to assist with sea turtle conservation by pounds as adults and average five reporting all dead or injured sea turtles to 1-800-922-5431. Additionally, feet in shell length. In September the following tips are useful: 1996, the first documented green • Never disturb a sea turtle crawling to or from the ocean. turtle nest was laid on South Island in South Carolina. Since 1996, • Once a sea turtle has begun nesting, observe her only from a distance. green nesting has become more • Do not shine lights on a sea turtle or take flash photography. frequent. Although green turtles • Turn out all lights visible from the beach, dusk to dawn, from May rarely nest in South Carolina, through October. juvenile turtles consistently utilize • Turn off all outdoor and deck lighting to reduce disorientation for South Carolina’s inshore and near nesting adults and hatchlings. shore waters as foraging grounds • Close blinds and drapes on windows that face the beach or ocean. from April through November. • Fill in holes on the beach at the end of each day as adults and For more specific information on hatchlings can become trapped. green sea turtles, please visit the following Web pages: http://www. • Do not leave beach chairs, tents etc. on the beach overnight. dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/cm.htm and • Never attempt to ride a sea turtle. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/ ResidentJuvenileSeaTurtleGuild.pdf.

Green sea turtle photographer Barbara Bergwerf distinct longitudinal ridges. Although jellyfish in South Carolina near shore Leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) cold blooded, they can maintain waters in the spring and fall while are the largest and widest ranging a body temperature warmer than migrating between Nova Scotia sea turtles. These sea turtles are ambient. They range from 800 - feeding grounds to tropical nesting unique because they do not have a 1,300 pounds and reach six feet in beaches. In 1996, the first South hard shell, but a leathery shell with shell length. Leatherbacks feed on Carolina record for a leatherback

3 nest was documented SUGGESTED READING on St. Phillip’s Island. • Carr, Archie. So Excellent a Since 1996, leatherback Fishe. The Natural History Press, nesting has become Garden City, New York. 1967. more frequent. For more • Carr, Archie. The Windward specific information on Road. University of Florida Press, leatherback sea turtles, Tallahassee Florida. Republished please visit the following 1979. Web pages: http://www. • National Research Council. dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/ Decline of the Sea Turtles: dc.htm and Causes and Prevention. National http://www.dnr. Academy Press, Washington, sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/ Leatherback sea turtle DC. 1990. Leatherbacktutle.pdf. photographer Matthew Godfrey • Safina, Carl. Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur. Henry Holt and Co., LLC, New York, New York. For more information about sea turtles in South Carolina, visit the Web 2006. sites below: • SCDNR Sea Turtle Conservation Program web site: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/ • Sea Turtle Brochure: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/outreach/seaturtlebrochure.pdf • Sea Turtle State of the Resource: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/pub/stateofloggerhead.pdf • Sea Turtle Outreach and Educational Materials: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/outreach.htm

This publication was made possible in part with funds from SCDNR endangered species appropriations, SCDNR Check-off for Wildlife funds, SCDNR endangered species license plate sales, US Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries Endangered Species Act Section 6 funding.

Author credentials: Marine Turtle Conservation Program, Marine Resources Division of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

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