Species Diversity
There are seven species of sea turtles in the world of which five (below) frequent the Southern African coast. Having a common ancestor, means modern turtles have many shared features, like their boxy shell, paddle like flippers, a salt gland in the head and that they all live in water but nest on land. However, they also have many unique features that make them distinguishable from each other as species. Most of these differences are in the appearance of the carapace, and the arrangement of the shell plates on the carapace and head. Each individual, irrespective of their size, can be identified using a simple identification guide.
Loggerhead turtle
Caretta caretta
Loggerheads are characterized by a hard carapace (top shell) with non-overlapping scutes (shell plates), varying from yellow, brown to pale red and with a light yellow plastron (bottom shell). The carapace is characterised by five pairs of costal (lateral) scutes.
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Leatherback sea turtle
Dermochelys coriacea
Leatherback turtles are characteristically black with white speckles, and a leathery shell made up of five dorsal ridges (from head to tail). The shell has no visible shell plates and is covered in a thin live skin. The head has two notches in the upper jaw.
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Green turtle
Chelonia mydas
Green turtles can be identified by one pair of prefrontal scales between the eyes, and a smooth shell with four pairs of lateral scutes on the back of the shell. The shell changes colour over time; hatchlings are black with white trimmings, and lighten in colour with age, to brown and tan, with yellow, olive or brown sunburst across the scutes
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Hawksbill turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata
They are characterized by a dark to golden brown top shell (carapace) with orange, red and/or black streaks with serrated back and overlying scutes. The bottom shell (plastron) is yellow and brown in hatchlings.
Olive ridley
Lepidochelys olivacea
They are characterized by a smooth top shell (carapace) with black shades of black, grey, green, brown and yellow. The bottom shell (plastron) is described to have shades of yellow and white. Even though olive ridley turtles are abundant (at specific locations), they are poorly studied with many data gaps.
