Wet/dry beach variation tolerance is broad but if 

 the substrate is too dry, the hatchlings are 

 undersized, and if too wet, then they come out of 

 the egg swollen. The gaseous environment of the 

 egg is not well known. We do know that oxygen 

 consumption and carbon dioxide production increase 

 as development continues. Egg manipulation may be 

 necessitated because of high water, predation or 

 public education, but well intent ioned movements 

 may increase mortality. (Internal egg development 

 and embryology were described in detail . ) 



BURNETT-HERKES ; What should be done if the turtle drops her eggs 



in the water prior to nesting? 



MILLER; 



Remove them from the water as quickly as possible. 



MROSOVSKYi 



In laboratory studies embryonic mortality is 

 sometimes late. What could cause this? 



MILLER; 



RUIZ; 



MILLER; 



MORTIMER; 



As oxygen demand increases during development, any 

 oxygen deprivation may cause mortalities. 



What is the effect of postponing or interrupting 

 egg laying during nesting behavior? 



In experiments where turtles have been interrupted 

 in nesting, the female postpones development 

 internally and development continues at the next 

 oviposition. 



The title of this presentation is; "Recovery of a 

 Turtle Population, Seychelle Island Case Study." 



Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelle Islands is one of 

 the most remote, 700 miles from the main island 

 group and 50 1cm long. It has 50 nesting beaches 

 and is famous for its Aldabra tortoises (150,000 

 in number) . 



The green turtle was the target of a fishery from 

 1906-1968. From 1968 to the present, marine 

 turtles have had 100% protection, and 1,000 green 

 turtles were nesting on Aldabra. Based on seven 

 years of data (1981-1987) 2,000 green turtles are 

 now estimated to be nesting. 



Management measures included regulations on the 

 nesting beach and a closed season. Since major 

 harvest was stopped 20 years ago (1968), if there 

 is an actual increase in numbers, we can conclude 



297 



