Loggerhead sea turtle

Photo: alexeyrfb · CC BY-NC

The loggerhead is the most commonly encountered sea turtle in the central Mediterranean and a regular summer visitor to Ustica, where the rocky terrain supports the sponges and benthic invertebrates that form a substantial part of its diet. Ustica sits on a documented loggerhead migration corridor between nesting beaches in Greece and Sicily and foraging grounds further west. Sightings are most frequent between June and September, typically of solitary adults resting on the reef or cruising the plateau edge.