Reyna Gil Hernandez of the Centre de Investigaciones de Quintana 

 Roo. Though preliminary in nature, these data reveal that 322 

 nesting female loggerheads were tagged on 10 Caribbean beaches 

 between 1 May and 4 August 1987. This total represented 

 approximately 50% of the turtles nesting on those beaches and 

 provides an overall estimate of about 600 females nesting per 

 year. While this estimate generally agrees with that given 11 

 years ago by Marquez (1976b) , the conclusion that loggerhead 

 nesting activity along most of the Mexican coast is less than it 

 was in the recent past (Carr et al. 1982) is still valid. 



Prior to WATS I, information concerning nesting activity of 

 loggerheads (and other species) in Cuba was limited to Bacon's 

 (1981) statement that there is "some nesting all around the 

 island." The local nesting areas that he was aware of were Playa 

 Baracoa and Isla de Finos (now Isla de la Juventud) . The Ad Hoc 

 Data Report for Cuba and the "Informe Nacional Sobre La Actividad 

 Desarrollada For Cuba En El Estudia Y Conservacion De Las 

 Tortugas Marinas," submitted to the WATS I data base, provided 

 significant new information about loggerhead nesting and foraging 

 in Cuba. The latter document makes it clear that the principal 

 nesting beaches are found on the cays and islands of the southern 

 coast of the Cuban Archipelago, especially at Cayo Largo, Isla de 

 la Juventud, Cabo Corrientes and Jardines de la Reina. This 

 information agrees with that in the Ad Hoc Data Report. Although 

 no quantitative estimates of nesting activity that would permit 

 the delineation of trends are available as yet, clearly, the 

 nesting aggregation on the southern coast of Cuba is an important 

 one. As is the case for virtually every other country involved 

 in WATS, we look forward to further development of a data base 

 for this aggregation. 



The United States Aaareaation 



Before commenting on the size and stability of the 

 aggregation of adult female loggerheads that nest on beaches of 

 southeastern United States, I need to digress briefly to comment 

 on the biological integrity of that aggregation. In one of the 

 few published studies dealing with loggerhead genetics. Smith et 

 al. (1977) showed that when compared to green turtles, 

 loggerheads exhibited less genetic variability. Hendrickson 

 (1980) used this and other information to conclude that there is 

 little evidence of race formation in the western Atlantic. 

 Nevertheless, Stoneburner (1980) and Stoneburner et al. (1980) 

 have found morphological differences and differences in heavy 

 metal content of eggs of loggerheads from South Carolina and 

 Florida that may suggest the formation of demes. Also, several 

 researchers are currently analyzing attributes of the 

 mitochondrial DNA of loggerheads from various localities. 

 Through the methods of modern biochemical genetics, demes, 

 ecotypes or other subunits of the western Atlantic aggregation 

 may eventually be recognized. Whether that happens or not, it 



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