Green Turtle Nesting in Florida 41 



that of Catesby (1731-43). He implied that green turtles nested on the 

 Florida coast when he stated that green turtles do not breed in the 

 Bahamas but come from Cuba and the "Continent. " Bahamian turtlers 

 were said to obtain their turtles in two ways and from two sources: by 

 using a detachable spike mounted on a harpoon to spear turtles in local 

 Bahamian waters, and by traveling to Cuba to turn female turtles as 

 they nested. Catesby stated that Bahamians carried their turtles to the 

 Carolinas (which at that time included all territory between Virginia and 

 Florida) since they were esteemed as a "rarity." Catesby also reported 

 that loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta (L.), were not known from 

 the Continent north of Cape Florida, where they are known to nest in 

 abundance today. As the Florida coast was wild and little known during 

 Catesby's time, it is not surprising that precise information regarding 

 species and nesting areas could be confused, especially by one obtaining 

 much information from secondhand sources. However, it is unlikely 

 that Bahamian turtlers would have hazarded a long and arduous voyage 

 to the remote coasts of Cuba had a large exploitable population of nest- 

 ing green turtles been available so close to home. It seems more likely 

 that if green turtles nested along the Florida coast, they nested in such 

 relatively small numbers that turtling expeditions would have been 

 unprofitable. Why loggerheads would go unnoticed north of Cape Flor- 

 ida remains unknown, although it is possible that many of these beaches 

 were never visited by Bahamian turtlers. 



The most reliable early accounts of green turtle nesting are the 

 observations of John James Audubon. His account of "The Turtlers" 

 (1926) clearly stated that the green turtle nested not only in the Tortu- 

 gas, but "resorts either to the shores of the main, between Cape Sable 

 and Cape Florida, or enters Indian, Halifax, and other large rivers or 

 inlets, from which it makes its retreat as speedily as possible, and 

 betakes itself to the open sea." The green turtle was said to approach the 

 shores, enter bays, inlets, and rivers early in April, and deposit three 

 clutches of eggs in May and June. Audubon further described a general- 

 ized nesting sequence, a process he reportedly saw several times, which, 

 while primarily based on loggerheads, may have been based in part on 

 observations of the green turtle. Of particular interest was the notation 

 that green turtles selected the wildest and most secluded nesting locations 

 as opposed to loggerheads; similar observations have been noted by L. 

 Ehrhart (1979, pers. comm.) on Merritt Island. 



Green turtles, as noted above, do enter lagoonal or river systems, 

 but it is unclear from Audubon's account whether nesting took place on 

 these shores. J. Fletemeyer (1980, pers. comm.) noted, however, that 

 loggerheads rarely nest in such locations and the use of lagoonal areas 



