Nesting of the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas (L.), in 

 Florida: Historic Review and Present Trends 



C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. 



Office of Endangered Species 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. 20240 



ABSTRACT.— Except for accounts in the 1800s, which focused on 

 the Keys and Cape Sable region, there are no reliable literature records 

 for nesting of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in Florida. Two nests 

 were reported prior to 1959, but the number recorded has steadily 

 increased and at least 366 nests were confirmed in 1980. The majority 

 were found from Merritt Island south to Key Biscayne, and most were 

 laid on relatively undisturbed beaches. Five reasons can be advanced 

 for this apparent increase in nest reports: better surveillance of nesting 

 beaches; greater awareness of sea turtles and their problems; protective 

 legislation; the success of a head-start program on Hutchinson Island; 

 and the possibility that some turtles are immigrating from populations 

 farther south. Although speculative, it is possible that the nesting pop- 

 ulation of green turtles in Florida is increasing and results from a 

 combination of the latter three reasons. A review of the level of histor- 

 ical green turtle nesting, as well as a year-by-year record of nesting 

 since 1959, are provided. 



INTRODUCTION 



The green turtle, Chelonia mydas (L.), may be the most familiar of 

 sea turtles to mankind. It has been used as a source of food (meat, eggs, 

 calipee) by indigenous peoples throughout the world (see Nietschmann 

 1972, 1976 for an example of how important the green turtle is to the 

 Miskito Indians of coastal Nicaragua). The turtle also was the basis for 

 gourmet turtle soup in markets formerly in the United States, and such 

 markets still exist in Europe. While subsistence taking for local use 

 probably has not seriously affected wild stocks, with the possible excep- 

 tion of egg taking in certain areas (see Harrisson 1976), the commercial 

 market has seriously depleted the turtles in many regions (Bacon 1975; 

 Nietschmann 1972). In some parts of the world, green turtles are taken 

 incidentally by trawlers (see Chin 1976). Habitat alteration, particularly 

 of nesting beaches and feeding grounds, and predation by both natural 

 and feral predators, have also combined to seriously deplete popula- 

 tions. Pollution of the oceans, especially by petrochemical products, has 

 a known but as yet unquantified effect on this species (Kleerekoper and 

 Bennett 1976; Witham 1978). The green turtle is perhaps historically the 

 most exploited of all marine turtles (Parsons 1962; King, in press), 

 although the hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata (L.), may have that 

 dubious distinction today. Chelonia mydas is considered either threa- 



Brimleyana No. 7:39-54. July 1 98 1 . 39 



