42 C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. 



in eastern Florida as green turtle developmental habitat is also well 

 known (Mendonc^ and Ehrhart 1982). Finally, both Ehrhart and R. 

 Witham (pers. comm.) believe that most Florida green turtles nest two 

 or three times per season. Each of these observations supplies credence 

 to Audubon's notes, although it must be pointed out that he often gen- 

 eralized and his species identifications may have been confused. His 

 delimitation of the area of nesting, Cape Sable to Cape Florida (near 

 Miami), may have been more a reflection of the extent of his travels 

 than a known lack of nesting farther north (see Proby 1974 for a review 

 of Audubon's travels in the Key West area). However, green turtles are 

 not definitely recorded today from beaches of either the Tortugas or 

 Cape Sable, although individuals are not uncommonly observed in off- 

 shore waters. Holbrook's (1842) implication that green turtles nested on 

 Florida beaches as well as the Tortugas may in fact have been based in 

 part on Audubon's observations. 



True (1884) reported green turtles nesting in Florida, the Bahamas, 

 and the West Indies, and stated that they may occur from Long Island 

 Sound (uncommonly) south through the Gulf States. He said that the 

 turtles were smaller in the north, indicating "young or dwarfed" indi- 

 viduals, and repeated Holbrook's (1842) nesting description verbatim. 

 Nesting was said to occur from April to July. It is clear in True's 

 account, however, that much of his information came from secondhand 

 sources, and he probably had no direct knowledge of green turtle nest- 

 ing in Florida. The originality of this source is thus open to question. 



As Carr and Ingle (1959) noted, William T. Sherman (1889) 

 recorded the importance of green turtles to the economy of eastern Flor- 

 ida, where he was stationed in 1840. Sherman stated: "They were so 

 cheap and common that the soldiers regarded it as an imposition when 

 compelled to eat green turtle steaks instead of poor Florida beef or the 

 usual mess-pork. I do not recall in my whole experience a spot on earth 

 where fish, oysters, and green turtles so abound as at Fort Pierce, Flor- 

 ida." He did not record, however, how the turtles were obtained or their 

 sizes, which would have given an indication of whether nesting might 

 have occurred in the area. 



Between 1840 and the mid- 1890s green turtles had clearly suffered a 

 significant decline in the Indian River area of eastern Florida. Turtle 

 fisheries were operated at Sebastian, Ft. Pierce, and Eden, although tur- 

 tles were incidentally taken elsewhere. After reviewing available catch 

 statistics, Wilcox (1896) stated: "There is no doubt that turtle fishing on 

 the Indian River is much less productive than formerly. Mr. Charles 

 Pearke, of Sebastian, who has followed the turtle business during the 

 past ten years, reports a great decrease of turtles as compared with ear- 



