a. All eggs incubated at 29. 7° C and above were 

 100% females. 



b. All eggs incubated at 29. 5° C and below were 

 100% males. 



c. Eggs incubated at 29. 5° C + 0.25°C resulted in 

 both sexes. 



d. The critical threshold temperature for 

 leatherback turtle eggs was concluded to be 

 29. 5° C. A detailed account of the embryonic 

 development and summary table will be 

 published next year. 



Results of a captive rearing experiment were also 

 reported: 



RUE DA: 



S. ECKERTi 



MROSOVSKY : 



LESCURE: 



a. An egg laid in French Guiana was incubated at 

 the Paris Museum and hatched in September 

 1984. 



b. The female hatchling is being, reared at the 

 Liege University Aquarium. The hatchling now 

 is 50 cm long. Swimming activity decreased 

 at 7 weeks, and growth increased. Research 

 on locomotion and skeletal development is 

 planned. 



Research on the leatherback nesting colony in 

 Colombia has been conducted. What is the impact 

 of massive egg collection on the population level? 

 The 1987 nesting season in Columbia lasted from 

 March-April up to mid-May. All the nests in one 

 beach section were destroyed by high tide levels. 

 The leatherbacks were nesting all over the beach 

 (low to high) . Does this happen elsewhere? 



A 50-60% loss of nests due to erosion on St. 

 Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands was reported. These 

 turtles average 5-6 nests per season, up to 11 

 nests, and typically leatherbacks in many areas of 

 the world nest randomly all over the beach. Such 

 behavior patterns may maximize hatchling success 

 in compensation for irregular erosion. 



A slide would be shown tomorrow on the comparison 

 of the number of misplaced nests from different 

 areas of the world. How long does it take to 

 reach maturity in the captive rearing experiment? 



The captured leatherback is immature now. The 

 turtle is now eating anything it is fed. In the 

 first 3 years the weight increase was 12.5 gms per 

 week. Growth curves will be published. 



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