Turtle vs Tortoise: Shell Game

In Queensland in 2021, a loggerhead turtle was found tangled in fishing nets, forty metres from the shore-the rescuer knew within seconds it wasn’t a tortoise. Loggerhead turtles have flat, streamlined shells and webbed flippers, built for ocean swimming but nearly helpless on land. But tortoises, like Australia’s own gopher tortoise, spend life on dry ground with heavy, dome-shaped shells and thick, stumpy legs designed for digging. Where turtles live mostly in water-freshwater or seas-tortoises avoid standing water and graze on land plants. Turtles feed on fish, jellyfish or aquatic plants, while tortoises munch on grass, leaves or fruit. If you see one crossing a dusty road instead of paddling in a pond, you’re looking at a tortoise, not a turtle. Remember: turtles swim, tortoises roam. That loggerhead in Queensland? Its flippers and flat shell gave it away instantly.