Behavior and Threat Profile
Multiple sea turtle species nest on Florida's beaches. Loggerheads are the most common. Green turtles and leatherbacks are also present. All five species are protected under federal law.
In Leonida the sea turtle is the underwater equivalent of the manatee: a large, slow, visually distinctive marine animal that signals protected status. The underwater sequences in the Keys specifically show coral reef environments that are the natural habitat for sea turtles.
Nesting females come ashore on southern Keys beaches at night. This creates a surface encounter possibility that most marine animals do not provide. The turtle on the beach at night is accessible to the player in a way that the underwater turtle is not. Interfering with a nesting turtle is presumably handled the same way interfering with a manatee is handled.