ABSTRACT
Like other cheloniid sea turtle species, loggerheads (Caretta caretta) are long-lived, late-maturing animals. Loggerheads spend the majority of their lives in a marine environment, occurring within both near-shore (neritic) waters and offshore (oceanic) waters. The oceanic habitat loggerheads occupy is broadly dened as seaward of the 200 m isobath (Bolten, 2003a,b; Witherington et al., 2006); waters with depths exceeding 200 m are considered oceanic, shallower waters are considered neritic (Lalli and Parsons, 1993; Tomczak and Godfrey, 1994). Between the ocean surface and oor, loggerheads live within a three-dimensional, dynamic world. As highly migratory, poikilothermic reptiles, loggerhead distribution and behavior are invariably linked to the environment these turtles inhabit-an environment inuenced by physical processes and subject to shifting temperatures, currents, habitats, and prey availability.
