106 
David S. Lee and William M. Palmer 
Stream in colder months. We do not know whether the small individuals 
encountered are migrants, waifs, or a wintering “population”. By mid- 
April, modest numbers of adult and subadult loggerheads appear in 
inshore waters (5 to 30 miles from shore). At these times shelf water 
temperature is 15^ to 18^ C. On six April trips, we encountered Caret ta 
on only two occasions: 18 April 1980 (2) and 19 April 1980 (10). All were 
adult-size turtles, inshore of the Gulf Stream. 
Since there are few records of yearling sea turtles, a single ca. 200 mm 
CL individual sighted in 45 to 50 fathoms of water on 29 July 1980 off 
Oregon Inlet, Dare County, seems noteworthy. It was swimming at the 
surface and was not associated with sargassum or other floating debris. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. — We thank those persons mentioned in 
the text for the information they supplied. Steven P. Platania assisted in 
most of the sea trips and prepared Figures 1 and 2, and John E. Cooper 
helped on two trips and provided helpful criticisms of the manuscript. 
This study was financed in part by U. S. Army Corps of Engineers 
(Wilmington District) contract DACW54-80-F-1 177 with NCSM. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Ernst, Carl H., and M. J. Gilroy. 1979. Are leatherback turtles, Dermochelys 
coriacea, common along the middle Atlantic Coast? Bull. Md. Herpetol. Soc. 
75(1):16-19. 
DeSola, C. Ralph, and F. Abrams. 1933. Testudinata from southeastern Georgia, 
including the Okefinokee Swamp. Copeia 1933(1): 10-12. 
Lazell, James D., Jr. 1980. New England Waters. Critical habitat for marine 
turtles. Copeia 1980(2):290-295. 
Lee, David S., and J. Booth, 1979. Seasonal distribution of offshore and pelagic 
birds in North Carolina waters. Am. Birds JJ(5):715-721. 
, and G. Oliver. 1980. Report on possible impact of Manteo Bay Project 
on marine mammals and turtles. On file, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Wilmington (NC) District, DACW54-80-F-1 177. 14 pp. + 5 tables. 
Pritchard, Peter C. H. 1976. Post-nesting movements of marine turtles (Cheloni- 
idae and Dermochelidae) tagged in the Guianas. Copeia 1976(4):749-754. 
Schwartz, Albert. 1954. A record of the Atlantic Leatherback Turtle {Dermo- 
chelys c. coriacea) in South Carolina. Herpetologica 10{\)\1. 
Schwartz, Frank J. 1977. Cheloniidae. pp. 303-308 in J. E. Cooper, S. S. 
Robinson and J. B. Funderburg (Eds.). Endangered and Threatened Plants 
and Animals of North Carolina. N. C. State Mus. Nat. Hist., Raleigh, 444 pp. 
1978. Behavioral and tolerance responses to cold water temperatures by 
three species of sea turtles (Reptilia, Cheloniidae) in North Carolina. Proc. Fla. 
Interregional Conf. Sea Turtles, Fla. Mar. Res. Publ. 33:16-18. 
Accepted 11 December 1980 
