SEA TURTLE LIFE CYCLE – Migration and Breeding

Photo Credit: Queensland Department of Environment and Science

During nesting season, though, adult sea turtles will migrate hundreds to thousands of miles from feeding grounds, where they spend most of their lives, to breeding grounds to mate and lay their eggs.

Nesting mothers will return to beaches within 5-20 miles of where they hatched from by using Earth’s magnetic field. Once there, the females will lay anywhere between 2-7 nests per season but do not nest every year.

MIGRATION AND BREEDING FACTS

The mother does not stay with the nest
The mother will not see her hatchlings if they make it to the water
Females can store sperm from multiple males
Males will mate with females every year, but a female may not mate every year