Loggerhead Turtle

Photo: MARC MARTIN SOLA · CC BY-NC

Loggerhead turtles rest and feed on Ervatão Reef year-round, but numbers peak from June through September when females come ashore on Ervatão beach directly above the reef to nest, making this one of the few places in the world where divers can observe turtles on the reef and operators can arrange respectful beach turtle observations on the same day. Boa Vista hosts roughly 70 percent of all Cape Verde loggerhead nesting activity, a globally significant population that conservation group Turtle Foundation monitors intensively. Individuals on the reef are foraging on jellyfish and sea grass rather than resting, and are typically more active and faster-moving than the loggerheads seen at sites in calm bay habitats.