(RoSTI) ANNUAL REPORT 2003 - WIDECAST

RoSTI Annual Report 2003
Franklin, Byrne and Eckert (2004)
Chart 1. 2003 Sea Turtle Sightings by Beach in the Commonwealth of Dominica, with an Emphasis on
the Beaches of Rosalie Bay. Sightings from “other” beaches were reported to the RoSTI Sea Turtle
Hotline on an opportunistic basis and are not intended to reflect relative abundance island-wide.
Species- RoSTI confirmed three species of endangered sea turtles (Appendix IV) nesting on the beaches
of Rosalie Bay. These are the Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata)
and Green (Chelonia mydas) turtles. Island-wide (that is, including 74 sightings in Rosalie Bay and 5
from other locations), the most common reports were of Leatherbacks and Hawksbills; the least
frequently seen was the Green turtle (Table 2, Chart 2).
The discovery of crawls (tracks) during morning beach patrols provided evidence of the majority of sea
turtle activity. In these cases, the size and pattern of the crawl left behind in the sand was used to identify
the sea turtle species. Only 24, or approximately 30%, of the total number of activities were documented
based on a visual sighting by RoSTI staff during night-time nest patrol.
Sightings included four poached turtles; all but one at La Plaine Beach. Poaching activity on both Rosalie
and La Plaine beaches was substantially reduced as a result of beach patrolling. There was no evidence of
poaching at La Plaine Beach from 26 May 2003 onwards; the last turtle to be poached was a female
leatherback that had been tagged by the RoSTI program ten days previous to her untimely death.
Table 2. 2003 Sea Turtle Sightings by Species, with an Emphasis on the Beaches of Rosalie Bay (i.e.
excluding the five sightings reported from other locales).
Ratio of Species Activity
Species Number of Encounters Percentage
Leatherback 30 40.5
Hawksbill 34 46.0
Green 10 13.5
Total 74 100.00
14
44.3%
La Plaine
Rosalie
Other