other Colonies 



The oceanic islands off Brazil's coast have recently been 

 surveyed and significant numbers of green turtles have been 

 recorded nesting on those beaches. The names of the islands and 

 estimated numbers of females, or nests, per season or survey trip 

 are given as follows (Marcovaldi and Marcovaldi, WATS II National 

 Report) : 



Number 

 Year Nesting beach Distance offshore females or nests 



1985/86 Ilha da Trindade 500 miles 385 females 



1986/87 Fernando de Noronha 200 miles 37 nests 



1982 Atol das Rocas 114 miles 49 nests 



Mexico's Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean beaches also host a 

 significant number of green turtles, but like many other 

 localities throughout the Wider Caribbean, the assemblages are 

 not as concentrated for the most part as those Mentioned above. 

 A total estimate of nesting females calculated from nest counts, 

 using the value of 2.8 nests per year, and taken from a summary 

 of important nesting beaches in Mexico (Marquez, WATS II National 

 Report) ranged from 283 to 420 females per year. 



Florida's green turtle population status has been summarized 

 (Ehrhart and Witherington, WATS II Poster Session) . The salient 

 point was that "nesting numbers appear to be increasing." 

 However, according to nesting effort data collected in 1985 and 

 1986, the numbers of females that nested those two years were 

 estimated to be 263 and 110, respectively. Again, the 

 fluctuating numbers of nesters between years are indicated for 

 Florida's colony. 



Conclusion 



Mortality levels for the non-breeding portion of these 

 populations are not known. Therefore, the values presented here 

 do not necessarily suggest that recovery (carrying capacity) has 

 occurred or that it will occur in the near future. Because of 

 the length of time required to reach maturity (an estimated 20-30 

 years or more for the Caribbean green) , the effects of this 

 mortality will not be observed for many years. We must keep in 

 mind the biological constraints characteristic of this species 

 mentioned earlier at WATS I. It has been described as "the 

 consequences of herbivory" because of the poor nutritive value 

 of the primary forage item and the long distances between the 

 foraging grounds and the nesting beaches where marine plants are 

 frequently lacking (Bjorndal 1982) . These consequences result 

 in: (1) slow growth rates; (2) delayed sexual maturity; and (3) 

 low annual reproductive rate — the modal being 2.5 years. 



93 



