LIMPUS ; 



MORTIMER! 



GIL: 



EHRHART; 



CHAVES ; 



OGREN ; 



Fat deposition begins approximately 2 years prior 

 to nesting. Only "very fat" females appear to 

 begin vitellogenesis. Approximately nine months 

 are required to form mature follicles. Therefore, 

 a female nesting (for example) in June/July began 

 vitellogenesis approximately one year prior. 

 Migration occurs, followed by courtship and 

 mating, which occur about one month prior to 

 nesting. 



Age to sexual maturity and its importance in 

 management and conservation were discussed. 

 Protracted age to sexual maturity precludes 

 looking at short term nesting population levels. 

 Total harvest of nesting females can continue for 

 a long time before the nesting population levels 

 will indicate a decline. The example of 

 overexploitation at Assumption Island was 

 provided . 



Studies are preliminary in Mexico. Quintana Roo 

 and Yucatan are the principal nesting and foraging 

 areas. Initial data on tagging and nesting were 

 presented. 



Large integumentary tumorous growths occur on 

 Florida green turtles. They do not appear to be 

 invasive but may be secondarily infectious and 

 increase chances of entanglement. In the central 

 east coast of Florida the incidence of tumors has 

 increased from 0% to 55% since the late 1970s. E. 

 Jacobsen at the University of Florida is working 

 on identifying possible viral causes. 



An increase in tumors has also been seen on green 

 turtles in Costa Rica.. Meat with tumors is even 

 sold in the markets. Tumors have also been 

 docximented on L. olivacea . 



The seriousness of these tumors was stressed. 

 Their effects on vision were noted. 



EHRHART; 



WITHAM; 



sixty percent of C. mydas with tumors are affected 

 in at least one eye. C. Le Buff on the west coast 

 of Florida and G. Balazs in Hawaii have also 

 documented tumors obscuring vision and apparently 

 causing mortality of green turtles. 



Decreases in nesting populations at Ascension 

 Island may be related to the elimination of social 



98 



