PARSONS ; 



MORTIMER; 



BOULON; 



GILLET; 



EHRHART ! 



SHIPP: 



(National representative of Cayman Islands) . He 

 believed turtles could adapt and move elsewhere to 

 nest if previously selected nest sites are not 

 available. Headstarting has shown that turtles 

 can reproduce in captivity. 



Extensive tagging of thousands of nesting females 

 at Ascension Island, Aves Island, and Tortuguero 

 has not produced any records of females nesting at 

 a different nesting beach than the one where it 

 was tagged. 



(National representative of U.S. Virgin Islands) . 

 Nest relocation at Sandy Point, USVI (poor nest 

 sites to suitable nest sites) increased 

 production. This is not propagating "bad" genetic 

 material, because females nest site selection is 

 random there. Tagging projects targeting 

 juveniles and sub-adults is important. He offered 

 to assist other Caribbean countries in 

 establishing a juvenile tagging project. 



(National representative of Belize) As sea 

 turtles are very ancient reptiles, are we 

 witnessing a natural extinction? Are we trying to 

 conserve a species which is naturally headed for 

 extinction? He supported the need for additional 

 research in the Caribbean region. 



Legislation is currently pending in the U.S. 

 Congress regarding the dumping of debris. 



From an evolutionary standpoint, it is esoteric to 

 worry about "bad or good" genes at this point. 

 Perhaps 5,000 years from now we should worry about 

 this. 



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