Adult Sea Turtles

Once sea turtles mature, both males and females will leave coastal areas and migrate, hundreds or even thousands of miles, to breeding areas where they will mate and begin the adult, reproductive stage of their lives.  Females will mate with multiple males prior to the beginning of a nesting season, storing sperm to fertilize multiple clutches of eggs that will be laid over the course of a couple of months.  Only females will come ashore to lay eggs, usually near the area where they themselves hatched and emerged from a nest perhaps two or more decades earlier.    

Except for the Kemp's ridley, which nests primarily during daylight hours, females will wait for the cover of darkness before leaving the water to crawl up the beach to find a suitable nesting spot.  Once a spot has been chosen, the female carefully and methodically digs a nest with her rear flippers in which she will lay as many as 100 or more ping-pong ball sized eggs.  This process may take a few hours or more.  Once the female finishes laying eggs, she will cover and disguise the nest before returning to the water.  Some species will nest several times during the nesting season.  The mother will never see her hatchlings once they are born six weeks to two months later.

When the nesting season comes to an end, females will return to foraging grounds, not nesting again for 2 to 3 years.  During this time they will continue to mature and forage, replenishing the stores needed to endure the next reproductive season.  If turtles are able to survive despite the many challenges they face, some researchers believe they may live to be as old as a century.  To read more about the obstacles sea turtles face, read our section about threats.

Did You Know?

• It is not known exactly how turtles are able to navigate to the beaches where they were born to nest after so many years, but there are a number of theories to explain this amazing phenomenon including the use of the earth's magnetic field (kind of like a "mental GPS").
• Adelita, a female loggerhead, was the first marine creature tracked across the entire Pacific Ocean.  Read about her amazing year long, 12,000 km migration from Mexico to Japan, the place of her birth, on our page "The Journey of Adelita." 
• Except for the Kemp's ridley, adult females do not nest every year.  Depending on the species, they will mate and lay eggs every 2-4 years.  Males however, may mate with females every year.
• Unlike other species, the Australian flatback sea turtle does not migrate to mating and nesting areas.  They mate and nest only in Australia. 
• The time to sexual maturity (adulthood) ranges between approximately 10 and 50 years depending on the species of sea turtle.

What is SEE Turtles?

We're a non-profit project that connects travelers and volunteers with sea turtle conservation projects in places that most need the support. Visit our homepage to learn how you can participate.

Links & Resources

Scientists Monitor Sea Turtle's Long Journey

General Behavior Patterns of Sea Turtles-Sea Turtle Conservancy

Video Clips of Nesting Sea Turtles

Sea Turtle Nesting Behavior & Photos

Worldwide Nesting Sites-Interactive Map

The State of The World's Sea Turtles-Interactive Lifecycle Diagram