Loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, from the Red Sea, Egypt, swimming close to shore along a coral reef.
Loggerhead turtles have a wide distribution throughout the world's oceans, including the Indian ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific and Atlantic temperate waters. They are usually encountered in open water or coral reefs, where they feed on anything they can find, mainly marine invertebrates such as squid, snails, worms, corals, sponges and jelly fish. They can grow up to 70 cm in length and reach a total weight of more than 100 kg when fully grown, some even 500kg. Sexual maturity is reached around 17–33 years in age. The lifespan of a loggerhead turtle is estimated to be of 47–67 years. Loggerhead turtle are victims to bycatch and are commercial hunted in some regions, which threatens their population. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature classifies this species as endangered.
Size: 4410px × 2940px
Location: Port Ghalib Housereef, Egypt
Photo credit: © Rasmus Loeth Petersen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: anapsida, animalia, blue, buoyancy, carapace, caretta, cheloniidae, chelonioidea, chordata, coastal, coral, dive, diving, egypt, fishes, foraging, housereef, indian, loggerhead, marine, neutral, ocean, pacific, photography, red, reef, reptile, reptilia, scuba, sea, site, testudines, tropical, turtle, underwater, vertebrate, water
