The Chesapeake Bay

Loggerheads are found foraging in the Chesapeake Bay during late summer and fall. Entering the bay in late spring, the loggerheads leave these foraging areas as the water temperature cools. The mouth of the Chesapeake Bay is deep and wide providing food for a large benthic community of plankton and fish, prey for foraging sea turtles, particularly immature loggerheads. Thousands of loggerheads are found foraging in the Mid-Atlantic each year, making the loggerhead the most common sea turtle in the region. While the Chesapeake Bay provides optimum foraging grounds, it is also an area with a great deal of fishing activity, thus leading to high rates of turtle bycatch.