Some of the loggerhead turtles in the North Pacific lay their eggs on the Pacific side of Japan, centered on Yakushima Island. On the main island of Okinawa, loggerhead turtle egg laying has been recorded more than 1,000 times. However, there had not been any confirmed cases of mating in Japan, and information on where and when they mate was unknown. On March 21st, 2015, researchers from the Churashima Research Center were able to observe the mating behavior of loggerhead turtles in the west Pacific off of Okinawa Island’s Motobu Peninsula. An extremely rare mating behavior was recorded. Researchers observed two males mounting one female at the same time and further observed the response of the female, who was receptive to the courtship of a male. This observation suggests that the mating season of the Loggerhead turtle around Okinawa includes early spring.

Author

Isao Kawazu, Haruna Okabe, Nozomi Kobayashi (Bold letters: Foundation Staff)

Title

Direct observation of mating behavior involving one female and two male loggerhead turtles in the wild

Journal name

Current Herpetology

DOI

10.5358/hsj.36.69

On March 21st, 2015, observation of mating behavior of loggerhead turtles in the west Pacific waters off of Okinawa Island’s Motobu Peninsula (Photo taken by: Haruna Okabe)
*The underwater photo was also selected as the cover photo for Current Herpetology Vol. 36 Issue 2.