Photographing Sea Turtles

Joseph Tepper · Issue 85, Jul/Aug 2015 · pp. 54–57

Without question, one the most popular marine creatures is the turtle. Green, hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback—we love every one. And best of all, they can be found and photographed in almost every destination. With a little bit of preparation and technique you can separate your turtle shots from the rest and produce images that even Crush the turtle from Finding Nemo would call “righteous!” Types of Turtles to Photograph There are seven species of sea turtles, which inhabit mostly coastal, tropical waters. The seven species (in order of frequency of encounter) are hawksbill sea turtle, green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, Olive ridley sea turtle, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, and flatback sea turtle. The hawksbill is the most commonly seen and photographed turtle, inhabiting coastal areas on every major continent. Also common, the green sea turtle is most often…