Loggerhead sea turtle - photographer DuBose Griffin Sea turtles
are among the largest reptiles in the world and inhabit almost
every ocean. Fossil evidence indicates sea turtles shared the
Earth with dinosaurs over 210 million years ago. Sea turtles are
cold-blooded, air breathing, egg laying reptiles that deposit
their eggs on dry, sandy beaches. Sea turtles differ from
freshwater turtles because they have flippers instead of feet,
cannot retract their heads and spend all of their life in salt
water, except when females come ashore to lay eggs. There are
seven species of sea turtles in the world. They are the
loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, green, leatherback, Australian
flatback, hawksbill and olive ridley. The loggerhead, Kemp's
ridley, green and leatherback sea turtles can be found in South
Carolina's near shore waters April through November or nesting
on our beaches from May through October. Loggerheads are the
most common sea turtle found in our state's coastal waters and
nesting on our beaches. Sea turtle n