World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

EGYPTEGYPT:MEDITERRANEANPOPULATIONAccording to Sella (1982: Fig. 1) scattered sea turtle nesting occurs on thecoast between Port Said and the Gaza area. The identity of the speciesinvolved is unknown but if any Green Turtles at all are present they arelikely to be greatly outnumbered by Loggerheads.EXPLOITATIONCoptic communities on the Mediterranean utilise "many" turtles (speciesuncertain, presumably C. caretta and/or C . mydas ) ; the turtles are keptincapacitated in the market until required, when the throat is slit and theblood drunk to increase fertility (S. Goodman pers. comm. , 10 June 1986).EGYPT:RED SEAPOPULATION :Chelonia mydasNesting sites There are relatively few known C. mydas nest sites in theEgyptian Red Sea. There is reportedly some highly dispersed nesting aroundsouthern Sinai, also on adjacent Tiran Island, but the only knownsignificant nest site in Sinai is located at Ras Shartib, south of AbuRodeis, midway along the western coast of the peninsula on the Gulf of Suez(Sella, 1982). Nesting records are still more sparse in the Red Sea proper;probable nests of C. mydas have been recorded on Baruda Island, Siyal(Hamata) Island, Ras Banas , and on St John's Island (Zabarga), which may bea small Green Turtle rookery; these sites are situated in the southern thirdof Egypt's section of the Red Sea (Frazier and Salas, 1984).Nesting numbers Some 40 nests (or apparent nests) were found at RasShartib in October 1967, and 37 nests on a 200-m stretch at the same site inJuly-September 1969, with an additional 30 nests recorded in an aerialsurvey at the end of September (Sella, 1982). Around 60 nests were said tobe made on St John's in July, probably a mixture of Green Turtles andHawksbills (Frazier and Salas, 1984). The Green Turtle is uncommon InEgyptian waters, and despite the ready availability of suitable nestinghabitat, probably fewer than 100 females nest annually in the country(Frazier and Salas, 1984).Trends in nesting numbers No direct Information is available.Considering the evidence for high levels of trade in turtle products in thepast, and the present extent of habitat disturbance in the Red Sea, it ispossible that sea turtle populations have declined.Nesting season Nests have been recorded between July and October.Foraging sites The species is likely to range through much of theEgyptian Red Sea but suitable feeding grounds of algae or seagrasses arerelatively restricted in extent (Frazier and Salas, 1984).175