The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) is a Testudine egg-laying reptile which is frequently found on the east coast of South Africa. It breeds on protected beaches in northern Zululand. Females come ashore during dark nights and each one of them lay up to 500 eggs at 15-day intervals.
It is a large turtle, with a big head. Its scute (shell) is smooth and non-overlapping, except for the young whose scute is keeled. Each one of its limb has two claws. It measures between 70 and 100 cm in length. Both adult and young are brown. It hunts for crabs, molluscs, and sea urchins around reefs and rocky estuary.
Below the loggerhead turtle on a beach in South Africa.
