50 C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr. 



junction with State and local agencies, have responsibility for en- 

 forcement. 



As a result of these laws, most nesting and coastal green turtles are 

 now unmolested, except for incidental take in shrimp trawls and boat 

 related injuries. Vandalism still occurs, however, and only the continued 

 strict enforcement of protective laws, with the imposition of severe 

 penalties, will deter such activity. 



Head-start program on Hutchinson Island. — Since 1960, Ross 

 Witham, Florida Department of Natural Resources, has been raising 

 green turtles and releasing them off Hutchinson Island, Florida, in one 

 of the earliest head-start programs in the world. This activity has been 

 supported since 1971 by the Marine Research Laboratory of the Florida 

 DNR. Turtles are raised to a size where natural predation should be 

 reduced (approximately 20 cm), after which they are tagged and released 

 (see Witham and Futch 1977 for details). Head-starting is an experimen- 

 tal technique, and not all sea turtle biologists are enthusiastic about its 

 use as a management tool (see Pritchard 1979 for a discussion). How- 

 ever, turtles released in this program are known to survive in the wild, 

 and are found in the same developmental habitat off Florida's coast 

 where similar-size "wild" turtles occur (Witham and Futch 1977; 

 Witham, pers. comm.). While there is no proof that increased nesting 

 along Florida's east central coast is due to this head-start program, it 

 must be recognized as a possibility, at least in part. 



Immigration. — One final possibility is that turtles now nesting in 

 Florida are immigrants from other green turtle populations. Perhaps 

 such individuals represent an expanding population, or they may be less 

 nest site specific than green turtles are supposed to be. Immigrants 

 could follow the western edge of the Gulf Stream during favorable 

 water conditions and nest on beaches adjacent to known developmental 

 habitat. However, Caribbean green turtle stocks are depleted and are 

 not likely to be subject to such population pressure as to force the sur- 

 plus into Florida waters in exponentially increasing numbers. The idea 

 that the Florida population is the result of offspring from a few random 

 founder individuals cannot be easily dismissed. If such were the case, 

 however, it is difficult to understand why nesting is not increasing in the 

 Keys. If most female green turtles return to their natal beach to deposit 

 their eggs, a few successful hatchings on normally unfrequented beaches 

 might lead to range extension, although this would be difficult to 

 determine. 



CONCLUSIONS 



While earlier authors accepted the idea that Florida beaches once 

 supported a large nesting population of green turtles (Carr and Ingle 



