World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

IRANPOPULATION:Chelonia mydasNesting sites Nests attributed to Green Turtles have been recorded onHortnuz island (Walczak., 1971) and on mainland beaches near Chah Bahar inIranian Baluchistan, from Paservandan east to the border with Pakistan(Walczak and Kinunen, 1971). It is possible that some Green Turtles nest onShitvar (Shotur, or Maru = Snake Island) and Lavan (Sheykh Sho'eyb) both inthe Gulf, and Larak and Qeshm, both in the Straits of Hormuz, but at thesesites the Hawksbill is certainly the predominant nesting species (Kinunenand Walczak, 1971)Nesting numbers On present evidence. Green Turtle nesting numbers arerelatively low. A total of 22 nests, comprising 18 found on 28 March (nomore than two or three days old) and four new nests on the following day,were located on the island of Hormuz (Walczak, 1971). This was thought tobe around the start of the nesting season. In Baluchistan, turtle tracksand around 12 recent nests were seen on a 3-kjn stretch of coast west ofPaservandan, and 28 tracks, with around 11 nests, on a 20- to 25-kin stretchof coast from Paservandan east to Gwater near the Pakistan border (Walczakand Kinunen, 1971). Ross and Barwani (1982) suggest an approximate annualtotal of 500 females.Trends in nesting numbers No direct information, but exploitation anddisturbance appear to be significant and local populations may be under somestress.Nesting season Confirmed Green Turtle nesting has been recorded in lateMarch in the Gulf (Hormuz), this was suggested to be at the start of thenesting season (Walczak, 1971), and in late October in Baluchistan (Walczakand Kinunen, 1971). It is possible that some level of nesting occursthroughout the year, and that there is a peak of activity at some period notcovered by these reported surveys.Foraging sites Green Turtles have been seen in small to moderate numbersforaging close inshore around the Gulf islands (Kinunen and Walczak, 1971;Bullock and Kinunen, 1971) and along the Baluchistan coast (Walczak andKinunen, 1971). There are extensive feeding grounds around Chah Bahar InBaluchistan; these are composed of algae according to Walczak and Kinunen(1971), but of seagrasses according to Harrington (1976). Similarly, theexcellent feeding grounds along the southern shore of Larak (Kinunen andWalczak, 1971) may contain seagrass rather than algae; 48 turtles werecounted along a 7-km stretch of coast here.POPULATION : Kretmochelys ImbrlcataNesting sites Hawksbill nesting has been recorded on Shitvar (Shotur, orMaru = Snake Island) and Lavan (Sheykh Sho'eyb) in the Gulf, and on Qeshm,Larak and Hormuz in the Straits of Hormuz (Kinunen and Walczak, 1971).Nesting numbers On Queshm, 27 tracks and/or nests were found 1-4 April,nearly half of these on an 11-km beach south of Khurbiz. Only six werefound on Larak 5-6 April; there are relatively few suitable nesting beacheshere (one of two fresh nests had been robbed of eggs by villagers). OnHormuz, 46 tracks and/or nests were found between 28 April and 1 May, onbeaches extending for around 8 km in the east of the Island, in an areaknown as Shat-e-lamba. These data would suggest a nightly mean of nearlyeight nests for the three Straits islands as a whole, if all nests were267