World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

CYPRUSPOPULATION :Chelonia mydasNesting sites A small number of C. mydas nest in the west, chieflyaround the Akamas Peninsula, notably in the Lara area. Beaches in the Lararegion include, in south to north order, Toxeftra (c. 1 Icm) , Ayiie Phanentes(1.5 km), and Lara south, central and north beaches (3 km in total). Noregular C . mydas nesting is known to occur elsewhere in southern Cyprus(Demetropoulos pers. comm., 10 July). Nesting also occurs in NorthernCyprus. Most nests recorded in 1988 were on beaches toward the tip of theKarpas Peninsula, either within or just outside the boundary of the proposedZafer Burnu National Terrestrial and Marine Park. The most important siteconsists of a bay about 3.75 km north-west of the village of Dipkarpaz, witha beach some 1.6 km in length, partially divided by small rock headlands.Nesting numbers The Chelonia population based at Lara is estimated tocomprise around 100 turtles (Demetropoulos and Hadj ichristophorou , 1987).This estimate is intended to include mature males, and is based on thepossibility that females typically nest in alternate years (Demetropoulosand Hadj ichristophorou pers. comm., 9 July 1988). On this basis, some 25female Chelonia may use the Akamas beaches each season. During a ten-dayperiod in early July 1988, in what was considered locally to be a good yearfor Green Turtle nesting, the mean nesting rate was about one nest per nightin the entire Lara area (Demetropoulos pers. comm., 10 July); this isequivalent to about 0.2 nests/km/night. A total of 96 fresh Chelonia nestswas recorded on 28 beaches in Northern Cyprus during a preliminary surveybetween 18 June and 14 July (Groombridge and Whitmore, unpublished).Nesting rate near Dipkarpaz was just over 1 nest/km/night. If each femalelaid three clutches, a minimum of 32 females could have produced theobserved total of 96 nests, however, other females will have nested beforeand after the survey period, and an estimate of 50 females is probably closeto the seasonal total in 1988. The only beaches in Northern Cyprus notinvestigated are around Giizelyurt (= Morphou) Bay in the west; Ramsay (1970)and Demetropoulos (pers. comm., 1988) confirm that some turtle nestingoccured here in the past, and local residents indicate that turtles stillnest. The species and numbers involved are not yet known, although Ramsay(1970) stated that Green Turtles nested, and that eggs were sometimescollected.Trends in nesting numbers Little firm evidence is available, althoughDemetropoulos and Hadj ichristophorou (1987) state that both Caretta andChelonia were more abundant in the past; this is based on reports fromfishermen, and on the name of one locality (Khelones) in northern Cyprus,which suggests that it was notable for good numbers of turtles. At leastone beach (Potima, in the Lara area) used to support sparse Caretta nestingbut now no longer does so, following sand extraction and construction of asea wall (Demetropoulos and Hadj ichristophorou pers. comm., 9 July 1988).Other beaches near Larnaka and other tourist sites almost certainly onceheld more nesting turtles than the negligible number now present. Overall,whilst turtle populations seem certain to have been larger in the past,there are no reliable historical data on past numbers, and thus on themagnitude of their apparent decline.Nesting season Nesting by both C. caretta and C. mydas occurs betweenearly June and mid-August (Demetropoulos, 1981 and 1983).157