Loggerheads are slightly smaller than green turtles but still impressively big — adults typically measure around 90 centimetres and weigh up to 135 kilograms. Their large heads house strong jaw muscles that can crack open hard shells with ease. While green turtles are mostly plant-eaters, loggerheads are hunters, searching the seafloor for crabs, sea urchins, and molluscs.
Like all sea turtles, loggerheads are air-breathing reptiles that must come up to the surface regularly. They can hold their breath for a very long time — sometimes over an hour — when they are resting or moving slowly. When they need a burst of speed to escape danger, they use a lot of oxygen quickly and must surface more often.
On Cyprus, the Akamas Peninsula and Lara Bay are vital nesting sites for loggerheads. The organisation ARCHELON — the Greek sea turtle conservation group — works alongside Cypriot rangers to monitor nests, rescue injured turtles, and educate visitors. Thanks to these efforts, loggerhead numbers in the Mediterranean are slowly recovering.