Where Do Sea Turtles Actually Live in the US?
Sea Turtles live in 18 US states and are confirmed absent from 2 more, based on 72,536 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.
By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.
The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida and Georgia, and 12 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.
Sea Turtles have zero confirmed wild sightings in Alaska and New Hampshire, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.
A small number of states (3) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm sea turtles as an established population there.
Confirmed states (18)
- sea turtles in Alabama
- sea turtles in California
- sea turtles in Connecticut
- sea turtles in Delaware
- sea turtles in Florida
- sea turtles in Georgia
- sea turtles in Hawaii
- sea turtles in Louisiana
- sea turtles in Maryland
- sea turtles in Massachusetts
- sea turtles in New Jersey
- sea turtles in New York
- sea turtles in North Carolina
- sea turtles in Rhode Island
- sea turtles in South Carolina
- sea turtles in Texas
- sea turtles in Virginia
- sea turtles in Washington
Not found (2)
- Alaska
- New Hampshire
Unconfirmed (3)
Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for sea turtles in Maine, Mississippi, Oregon, too few to confirm an established population.
Frequently asked questions
What states do sea turtles live in?+
Sea Turtles have confirmed wild populations in 18 US states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Where are sea turtles not found in the US?+
Sea Turtles have no confirmed wild sightings in Alaska and New Hampshire.