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Survival Commission (SSC) 5. 204 pp. 

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Group. 1991. Tortoises and freshwater turtles: an action 



plan for their conservation. 2nd ed. International Union 



for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 



Gland. Switzerland. 48 pp. 

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turtles. Herpetological Journal 2:77-Sl. 

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of the turtles of Flonda. Florida Scientist S2: 1 19-144. 

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C.H. Gardiner. J.L. LaPoite, HP. Adams, and C. 



Reggiardo. 1991. Chronic upper respiratory tract disease 



of free-ranging desert tortoises (Xerohutes agassizii). 



Journal of Wildlife Diseases 27:296-316. 

 Lovich. J.E. 1989. The spotted turtles of Cedar Bog. Ohio: 



historical analysis of a declining population. Pages 23-28 



in R.C. Glotzhober. A. Kochman. and W.T. Schultz, eds. 



Proceedings of Cedar Bog Symposium II. Ohio 



Histoncal Society. 

 Lovich. J.E. 1994. Biodiversity and zoogeography of non- 



niarine turtles in Southeast Asia. Pages 381-391 //; S.K. 



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For further information: 



Jeffrey E. Lovich 



National Biological Service 



Midcontinent Ecological Science 



Center 



Palm Springs Field Station 



63-500 Garnet Ave. 



PO Box 2000 



North Palm Springs, CA 



92258 



Five species of marine turtles frequent the 

 beaches and offshore waters of the south- 

 eastern United States: loggerhead (Cciretta 

 caretta). green (Clwloma mychis). Kemp's rid- 

 ley {Lepidochelys keinpii). leatherback 

 (Dermochelys coriacea). and hawksbill 

 (Eretmochelys liiihricata). All five are repoiled 

 to nest, but only the loggerhead and green turtle 

 do so in substantial numbers. Most nesting 

 occurs from southern North Carolina to the 

 middle west coast of Florida, but scattered nest- 

 ing occurs from Virginia through southern 

 Texas, The beaches of Florida, particularly in 

 Brevard and Indian River counties, host what 

 may be the worid's largest population of log- 

 gerheads. 



Marine turtles, especially juveniles and 

 subadults. use lagoons, estuaries, and bays as 

 feeding grounds. Areas of particular importance 

 include Chesapeake Bay. Virginia (for logger- 

 heads and Kemp's ridleys); Pamlico Sound. 

 North Carolina (for loggerheads); and Mosquito 

 Lagoon, Florida, and Laguna Madre, Texas (for 

 greens). Offshore waters also support impoilant 

 feeding grounds such as Florida Bay and the 

 Cedar Keys, Florida (for green turtles), and the 

 mouth of the Mississippi River and the north- 

 east Gulf of Mexico (for Kemp's ridleys). 

 Offshore reefs provide feeding and resting habi- 

 tat (for loggerheads, greens, and hawksbills). 

 and offshore currents, especially the Gulf 

 Stream, are impoilant migratory corridors (for 

 all species, but especially leatherbacks). 



Most marine turtles spend only part of their 

 lives in U.S. waters. For example, hatchling log- 

 gerheads ride oceanic currents and gyres (giant 

 circular oceanic surface cunents) for many 



years before returning to feed as subadults in 

 southeastein lagoons. They travel as far as 

 Europe and the Azores, and even enter the 

 Meditenanean Sea, where they are susceptible 

 to longline fishing mortality. Adult loggerheads 

 may leave U,S. waters after nesting and spend 

 years in feeding grounds in the Bahamas and 

 Cuba before returning. Nearly the entire world 

 population of Kemp's ridleys uses a single 

 Mexican beach for nesting, although juveniles 

 and subadults, in particular, spend much time in 

 U.S. offshore waters. 



The biological characteristics that make sea 

 tuilles difficult to conserve and manage include 

 a long life span, delayed sexual maturity, differ- 

 ential use of habitats both among species and 

 life stages, adult migratory travel, high egg and 

 juvenile mortality, concentrated nesting, and 

 vast areal dispersal of young and subadults. 

 Genetic analyses have confirmed that females 

 of most species retuiTi to their natal beaches to 

 nest (Bowen et al. 1992; Bowen et al. 1993). 

 Nesting assemblages contain unique genetic 

 markers showing a tendency toward isolation 

 from other assemblages (Bowen et al. 1993); 

 thus, Florida green turtles are genetically differ- 

 ent from green turtles nesting in Costa Rica and 

 Brazil (Bowen et al. 1992), Nesting on warm 

 sandy beaches puts the turtles in direct conflict 

 with human beach use, and their use of rich off- 

 shore waters subjects them to mortality from 

 commercial fisheries (National Research 

 Council 1990). 



Marine turtles have suffered catastrophic 

 declines since European discovery of the New 

 World (National Research Council 1990). In a 

 relatively short time, the huge nesting assem- 



Marine 

 Turtles in the 

 Southeast 



by 

 C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. 



National Biological Sen ice 



