World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

GUYANAPOPULATION:Chelonia mydasNesting sites The coastline, of around 380 km, consists primarily ofmangrove forest and beach areas, the latter extending for some 160 km. Hostbeaches known to be used by nesting turtles are situated on the farnorth-west sector of the coast, the largest being Shell Beach (6 km).Nesting by C. mydas has been recorded on Shell Beach, and on smaller beachesaround Waini Point (Reichart et al . 1984). Other beaches exist in thewest, but no data are available on present turtle nesting. Pritchard andTrebbau (1984) cite the Essequibo Delta area and at least six beaches in theeast as C. mydas nest sites; however, nesting tracks were seen only in thefar west during an aerial survey in September 1982 and no evidence ofnesting on the eastern half of the Guyana coast has been seen in recentyears (Reichart et al , 1984).Nesting numbers Recent information is sparse. Fair numbers appear tohave nested in 1964-65, although only one or two nested on Shell Beachduring four days in August 1964 (Pritchard, 1969b). Only a few were seen inAugust 1965, but up to about a dozen were emerging nightly on Shell Beach inApril 1967. Reichart et al (1984, Table 4) records 5-6 nests nightly onShell Beach in April 1967. An aerial survey (by P. Pritchard) of thenorth-west coast in June 1983 revealed a single possible C . mydas track. Onavailable evidence the C. mydas nesting population is small. Pritchard andTrebbau (1984) characterise Shell Beach as a nest site of moderateimportance, but collectively the Guyana sites are of far less significancethan the nearby Suriname beaches.Trends in nesting numbers No good comparative data are available. Somereputed former nest beaches (species undetermined) in east Guyana appear nolonger to be used (Reichart et al. . 1984), and some degree of decline seemslikely given the exploitation pressure prevailing.Nesting season Nesting has been recorded between March and August(Reichart et al. 1984).POPULATION : Eretmochelys imbricataNesting sites Nesting by E. imbricata has been recorded on Shell Beachand on smaller beaches around Waini Point (Reichart et al . 1984), however,Pritchard (1987b) considered that the species may have virtually disappearedfrom the Guianas, which are characterised by muddy shores and contain littletypical nesting habitat.Nesting numbers Recent information is sparse. Fair numbers appear tohave nested in 1964-65 (Pritchard, 1969b). Reichart et al (1984) record 12nests on Shell Beach in a three-week period in August 1967. AlthoughPritchard and Trebbau (1984) consider that Shell Beach may be the mostimportant nest site for E. imbricata in mainland South America, absolutenumbers appear to be very small.Trends in nesting numbers No good comparative data are available. Somereputed former nest beaches (species undetermined) in east Guyana appear nolonger to be used (Reichart et al , 1984).Nesting season Nesting has been recorded between June and August(Reichart et al .1984).215