MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 281 



green turtle are in the West Indies and along the 

 coast of Central America. 



Most of the turtles are caught with gill-nets. On 

 the shores of Costa Rica, however, they are caught 

 principally at night when they come ashore to lay 

 their eggs. The fishermen simply locate the animal 

 with lanterns, and then turn it on its back, thereby 

 rendering it helpless. Later a strong line with a 

 wooden float attached at one end is fastened to the 

 turtle's flippers. Then it is turned back on its belly 

 and allowed to scramble off into the water. The 

 animal, of course, heads for the open sea, but, be- 

 cause of the floats, it makes slow progress. Turtle 

 boats lie at a safe distance offshore, and when the 

 animals with the floats attached reach the water 

 where the boats can ply, the floats are picked up, and 

 the animals at the other end of the lines are hauled 

 aboard by means of block and tackle. This is a rather 

 ingenious way of getting the turtles, but also a de- 

 structive way, as many of the animals are caught 

 before they have had time to lay their eggs. 



The principal market for green turtles is Key 

 West, Florida, where a cannery is located and where 

 pens of palmetto logs are provided. The turtles are 

 landed here by schooners, known as turtle boats, and 

 placed in the log pens, where they are held until the 

 operators of the cannery are ready to can them, or to 

 ship them to a more northern market. Although the 

 shell of the green turtle is smooth, and attractively 

 marked with brown, yellow, and white, it has prac- 

 tically no commercial value. This animal has only a 

 single claw on each flipper, whereas the loggerhead 



