Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta )

Family Cheloniidae

Description: Adult loggerhead turtles are slightly smaller than green turtles, the carapace usually measuring a little less than 100cm in length, and weighing up to 160 kgs. There are five pairs of costal scutes, as opposed to four in both green and hawksbill turtles. The carapace is relatively flat and is often a light brown colour. The leathery skin has an orange tinge. The broad head is on a thick neck and is very large relative to body size. The beak is sharply pointed but thick and solid.

Habitat: Loggerheads feed on crabs, molluscs and other reef animals relatively deep down on the reef. Nesting beaches in neighbouring Oman are composed of coarse sand.

Range: Knowledge concerning the presence of loggerhead turtles in the UAE comes only from discoveries of a few skulls and carapaces of dead animals on offshore islands to the west of Abu Dhabi. No confirmed live sightings have been recorded.

Comments: Loggerhead turtles are not well known by fishermen of the UAE, but one identified a skull as belonging to ‘Murah’. Numbers in the UAE have never been assessed, but Oman hosts the world’s largest nesting population, numbering 30,000.