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Many turtles from the same beaches show up at the same feeding areas. Once reaching sexual maturity in the Atlantic Oceans, the female Loggerhead makes the long trip back to her natal beach to lay her eggs. The Loggerhead sea turtle in the North Atlantic cover more than 9,000 miles round trip to lay eggs on the North American shore.
Mating takes place yearly, in early spring in the southern part of its geographic range, and in later spring in the northern part. About two months later, the female builds a nest and lays a clutch of 10–50 eggs. [17] It was found that some females lay eggs every year and some females lay eggs every other year. [30]
While most species build nests and lay eggs where they forage, some travel miles. The common snapping turtle walks 5 km (3 mi) on land, while sea turtles travel even further; the leatherback swims some 12,000 km (7,500 mi) to its nesting beaches. [13] [89] Most turtles create a nest for their eggs. Females usually dig a flask-like chamber in ...
On occasion, on a walk with Loggerhead Marinelife Center, you might even see baby sea turtles hatch from their eggs and scurry to the ocean, which usually emerge in groups of 80 to 120 hatchlings.
A healthy female bog turtle can lay between 30 and 45 eggs in her lifetime, but many of the offspring do not survive to reach sexual maturity. [53] Typically, older females lay more eggs than younger ones. [51] The eggs are white, elliptical, and on average 3.4 centimeters (1.3 in) long and 1.5 centimeters (0.59 in) wide. [54]
In the northern part of their range common snapping turtles do not breathe for more than six months because ice covers their hibernating site. These turtles can get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and allowing gas exchange to take place through the membranes of their mouth and throat. This is known as extrapulmonary respiration. [30]
Unshaded sites with sandy soil are highly preferred. The female usually chooses well-drained areas for depositing the eggs. The nest cavity is dug with the hind feet. The size of the clutch is between six and 20. The eggs are oval, about 3.2 cm (1.3 in) long, and have a flexible shell. After the eggs are laid, the cavity is filled.
About 50% of female sea turtles complete "false crawls," which occur when they crawl onto the beach but return to the water without laying eggs.