What Eats Sea Turtles? Predators at Every Life Stage

Sea turtles are part of food webs. Which animals eat them depends on the turtle's size, life stage and location. A small hatchling faces a different set of predators from a large adult.

Eggs and hatchlings on the beach

At Cape Lookout National Seashore, staff describe raccoons, coyotes and ghost crabs digging into nests. Hatchlings crossing the beach can also be taken by birds and crabs. These are examples from a particular coastline, not a list of animals found at every nesting beach. NPS Cape Lookout monitoring

Into the water

Reaching the sea does not end the danger. Fish, including sharks, and birds can eat small turtles. The National Park Service describes this changing set of predators in the southeastern United States. Larger turtles generally have fewer natural predators, although large sharks and crocodiles can still attack them. NPS Everglades turtle ecology

Growing larger changes risk; it does not make a turtle invulnerable. There is no single predator count or survival percentage that applies to every species, beach and year. Read more about survival estimates.

Predators and human hazards are different

Predation is part of an ecosystem. Human activities add other hazards, including accidental capture in fishing gear, habitat loss, vessel strikes, marine debris and, in some regions, taking turtles and eggs. The importance of each threat varies by population. NOAA sea turtle threats

Protecting turtles does not mean visitors should chase away or harm wild predators. Leave wildlife management to authorized teams. Keep food scraps and rubbish secure, give nests space and follow beach rules. FWC beach guidance

Think like an ecologist

Draw a simple food web using one locally documented predator, a turtle life stage and something that turtle eats. Label the place you are describing. Which connections might change if you chose a different species or coastline?

Our Predator Silhouettes activity helps you recognize shapes. The lifecycle game invents encounters for play; its difficulty is not an estimate of a wild turtle's chance of survival.