Turtle Types

  Five different species of sea turtles can be found in the Gulf of Mexico:

The loggerhead sea turtle is the most common turtle to nest in Florida.  Over 50,000 loggerhead nests are recorded annually in Florida.  This turtle is named for its disproportionately large head and feeds on crabs, mollusks, and jellyfish.

The green sea turtle is the second most common turtle in Florida waters.  Green sea turtles are the only herbivorous (plant-eating) sea turtles.  They feed on seagrasses in shallow areas throughout the Gulf.  The lower jaw is serrated to help cut the seagrasses it eats. 

The leatherback is the largest sea turtle in the world and can be over 6 feet long and weigh 1400 pounds.  It does not have a hard shell, but rather a leather-like carapace with bony ridges underneath the skin.  The leatherback makes long migrations to and from its nesting beaches in the tropics as far north as Canada.  Jellyfish are the favored prey of these turtles.

Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the rarest sea turtle in the world.  They primarily nest on one beach on the Gulf coast of Mexico and are the smallest species of sea turtle.  Scientists have been trying to transplant Kemp’s Ridley eggs to Texas to establish a new nesting colony.

  Feeding primarily on sponges, the hawksbill sea turtle is usually found in the southern Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.  The hawksbill sea turtle was hunted to near extinction for its beautiful shell which features overlapping scales.