80 John B. Andre and Larry West 



argentatus, and approximately 200 turtles were taken by these birds dur- 

 ing the season. Losses were minimized by releasing the turtles each day 

 at a point on the beach where gulls were not present. 



We checked the condition of the hatchery on 6 September, after the 

 hurricane had passed, and found that the unhatched eggs had drowned, 

 regardless of the degree of embryo development. Loggerhead egg mor- 

 tality from excessive rainfall and the condition of drowned eggs has 

 been reported by Ragotzkie (1959), and our observations concur. A ser- 

 ies of exhumed nests showed that the last that hatched had been placed 

 in the hatchery on 28 June. Groundwater level was at or near the tops 

 of all exhumed nests. 



Most of the natural nests on Cape Island were also destroyed by 

 the hurricane (Hopkins, pers. comm.). Of 51 unhatched nests remaining 

 in her 3 km study area, all were destroyed by erosion or inundation 

 produced by the hurricane. Our inspection of nesting habitat on the 

 island after the hurricane revealed that no natural nesting sites had been 

 effectively protected. 



Predation 



The major problem for management of the Atlantic population log- 

 gerhead rookeries is the raccoon (Ehrhart 1979). Destruction of nests by 

 raccoons is the most important factor limiting turtle productivity on 

 Cape Island. First night predation (nests destroyed on the same night 

 laid) is almost 100% in some rookeries (Ehrhart 1979). In 1972 and 

 1973, raccoons took 85% and 75%, respectively, of the loggerhead nests 

 at Cape Sable, Florida, and first night predation accounted for 87% of 

 the destroyed nests (Davis and Whiting 1977). To reduce egg and hatch- 

 ling losses, 82 raccoons were removed from the island during April 

 through August 1979. The effect of the trapping effort is clear. In 1978, 

 first night predation by raccoons destroyed 47% of the nests compared 

 to 22% in 1979. The greatest number of nests destroyed on the night laid 

 was 18 in 1978 and 7 in 1979, and the mean number of nests destroyed 

 per night was 7.5 in 1978 and 2.2 (SD = ± 1.84) in 1979. On a 3 km 

 section of Cape Island beach, Hopkins (unpublished data and pers. 

 comm.) found that raccoons destroyed 95.8% of the marked nests in 

 1978 and 59.3% in 1979. The 1979 predation percentage would have 

 been somewhat higher, but nests were not available to predators after 

 Hurricane David (Hopkins, pers. comm.). Klukas (1967) and Davis and 

 Whiting (1977) reported similar findings after initiating a raccoon con- 

 trol program at Cape Sable, Florida. However, trapping programs are 

 labor intensive and must be conducted yearly to maintain effectiveness. 

 Reproduction by raccoons, and immigration from nearby areas, quickly 

 replace those removed by trapping. 



