CHAVES ; 



G. MARCOVALDI; 



Greater effort needs to be directed toward 

 determining what is happening to the populations 

 over a long term. Seventeen years of data from 

 Tortuguero show annual fluctuations in nesting 

 density. Both the Tortuguero research team and 

 the Costa Rican team evaluating exploitation 

 should join efforts and request greater control of 

 illegal capture. 



In Brazil, C. mydas is protected by law and is 



the most abundant species. Large populations of 

 juvenile turtles forage in Brazil. Local common 

 names of turtle species complicate research on 

 distribution and exploitation. Preliminary 

 nesting and tagging data from three Brazilian 

 islands indicated that nesting occurs primarily on 

 distant islands, not on the mainland coast. 



BURNETT-HERKES : Witham's comment regarding one Atlantic 



population was questioned. Further explanation 

 was requested. 



WITHAM ; A complete explanation was lacking but two 



suggestions were offered. Site specific nesting 

 may be related more to fidelity to a first nesting 

 area rather than to a natal beach. Published 

 genetic investigations show no genetic variability 

 between Tortuguero and Florida turtles. 



BURNETT-HERKES ; Disagreement with the hypothesis of one 

 population was expressed 



WITHAM ; Florida DNR headstarted turtle recaptures are 



widely distributed. Juvenile turtles foraging in 

 Brazil may not return to Florida to nest when 

 mature. This may support the hypothesis of one 

 population. 



BURNETT-HERKES ; Long term studies of turtle movements to assess 

 population relationships are needed. 



WITHAM; 



Long term studies are indeed necessary. 



BURNETT-HERKES : More work needs to be done on determining how 

 many populations exist. Limpus was questioned 

 about when mating and egg shell formation takes 

 place in the Australian population. 



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