UNIT 25 

 SEA TURTLES 



bcjii. and the South Atlantic Ocean (east and west). 

 Progress has been made in our understanding 

 of the hfe history of Kemp's ridleys, loggerheads, 

 and green turtles at various study sites in Florida, 

 North Carolina, and the northwestern Gull" ot 

 Mexico. A number ot current studies are investi- 

 gating the use and importance ot these inshore 

 and nearshorc habitats. Critical habitat for the 

 green turtle has been designated tor the nearshore 

 foraging grounds oft Culebra, Puerto flico, and 

 for the hawksbill in Mona and Monita Islands. 

 NMFS has conducted considerable research on the 

 use of various kinds ot tags to mark and identifii' 

 sea turtles in order to collect important biological 

 information during their life history such as 

 growth, survival rates, and age of maturirv. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Gladys Porter Zoo. 1997. Report on the Mexico/United 

 States of America population restoration project tor 

 the Kemp's ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kciiipii. on 

 the coasts ot Tamaullpas and Veracruz, Mexico. U.S. 

 Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Ser- 

 vice, Washington, D.C., 58 p. 



FOR FURTHER READING 



Bjorndal, K. A. (Editor). 199'i. Biology and conserva- 

 tion ot sea turtles (revised edition). Smithsonian In- 

 stitution Press, Washington, D.C., 61? p. 



National Research Council. 1990. Decline ot the sea 

 turtles: causes and preventions. National Academy 

 Press, Washington, D.C., 259 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific populations ot the hawksbill turtle [Eretiiiochciyi 

 imbriciitii). National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver 

 Spring, Maryland, 83 p. 



National iMarine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific populations of the loggerhead turtle (Ciiretta 

 caretta). National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver 

 Spring, Marvland. 60 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific populations ot the olive ridley turtle (Lcpiriochflyi 

 oliviiceii). National Marine Fisheries Service. Silver 

 Spring, Maryland, 53 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific populations ot the green turtle (Chelo)iia y>iydas). 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, 

 Maryland, 84 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific populations ot the East Pacific green turtle (Che- 

 loniii Diydas). National Marine Fisheries Service, Sil- 

 ver Spring, Maryland, 51 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for U.S. Pa- 

 cific popukitions ot the leatherback turtle (Dcrmochelys 

 coridcfii). National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver 

 Spring, Maryland, 66 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1991 . Recover)- plan tor U.S. popu- 

 lation ot Atlantic green turtle. National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service, Washington, D.C., 52 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlite Service. 1993. Recovery plan tor hawksbill 

 turtle in the U.S. Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and 

 Gulf of Mexico. National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 St. Petersburg, Florida, 52 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1991. Recovery plan tor U.S. popu- 

 lation ot loggerhead turtle. National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service, Washington, D.C., 64 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1992. Recovery plan tor the Kemp's 

 ridlev sea turtle (Lepidochelys ketupii). National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service, St. Petersburg, Florida, 40 p. 



National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service. 1992. Recovery plan tor leatherback 

 turtles in the U.S. Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, 

 and Gulf ot Mexico. National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice, Washington, D.C., 65 p. 



Plotkin, P. T. (Editor). 1995. National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlite Service Status 

 reviews tor sea turtles listed under the Endangered 

 Species Act of 1973. National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice, Silver Spring, Maryland, 139 p. 



Turtle Expert Working Group. 1998. An assessment ot 

 the Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and logger- 

 head {Qireru! eiirem) sea turtle populations in the 

 western North Atlantic. NOAA Technical Memoran- 

 dum NMFS-SEFSC-409, 96 p. 



267 



