World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

MAYOTTKPOPULATION:Chelonia mydasNesting sites Although the species appears to occur around Mayottethroughout the year, known nesting sites are relatively few. Frazier (1985)recorded C. mydas nesting on 17 of the 127 beaches he examined; about 140beach sites exist in all, with a combined length of some 30 km. North andSouth Moya beaches, and Papanl beach, all on Pamanzi Island (east of Mayotteitself), appear to be the most important nest sites, together with Sazileyand several minor sites, around the main island of Mayotte (Frazier, 1985).Bonnet ( in litt. , 22 April 1987) considers the Moya beaches, and Chariffou,Magikhavo and M'Tsanga in Southern Mayotte to be the most important nestsitesNesting numbers Frazier (1985, based on fieldwork in 1972 and 1973)estimated that fewer than 600 females nest annually in Mayotte; see Table140. Bonnet (pers. comm. ) counted 2-3 nesting tracks a night between 10 and14 June, 1986 on Moya beach, said to be one of the main nesting sites. Anaerial survey on the morning of 4 June 1986 found traces of nesting attemptsby 27 turtles around the whole island. All of the emergences on Boudrounibeach resulted in successful nesting: 75% on Chariffou and only 50% on Moyanorth beach. A total of 61 tracks were recorded on the main Mayotte nestbeaches over four weeks in August 1986, but only 13 clutches (Bonnetin litt. , 22 April 1987). The 1986 data appear to reflect much lessC. mydas nesting than was recorded by Frazier in 1972-73.Table 140. Estimated annual female nesting numbers in Mayotte (data fromFrazier, 1985).Pamanzi IslandNorth Moya and South Moya 132Papani 155Minor beaches, mostly around Mayotte 275TOTAL 562Trends in nesting numbers According to Frazier (1985), there is everyreason to suspect that numbers have declined, due to exploitation andhabitat loss, but no comparative data are available. Bonnet (pers. comm.)similarly concluded from interviews conducted in 1986 that turtlepopulations had declined.Nesting season There may be some nesting throughout the year; fresh nesttracks on Moya beach have been recorded between April and June, older trackswere probably made around late February, and nesting is suspected to extendinto mid July. The seasonal pattern appears to be similar to that onAldabra (and Moheli), where nesting rises during the trade winds, from Mayto August, in the austral winter (Frazier, 1985).Foraging sites Mayotte possesses outstanding reef areas, and extensiveshallows with seagrass pastures; foraging C. mydas appear to occurthroughout these habitats, particularly in sheltered lagoons with seagrassbeds. Juveniles are reportedly common in lagoon areas in the north-east andsouth (Frazier, 1985).34S