World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

PUERTO RICOPOPULATION :Chelonla mydasNesting sites Gonzalez (1984) identified nesting sites at Yellow Beachon Vieques Island and Playa Brava and Playa Resaca on Culebra Island. Carret al (1982) reported nesting on Mona Island and noted the occurrence ofsuitable nesting beaches along the northern and western coasts of PuertoRico.Nesting numbers Gonzalez (1984) estimated the nesting population ofC. mydas in 1977 and 1981 to be only four. Bacon (1981) noted occasionalnesting on mainland Puerto Rico and Carr et al (1982) reported "some"nesting on Mona Island and infrequent nesting on Culebra and Vieques.Kontos (1988) found no nests of C. mydas on Mona between July and November1987, but confirmed that some nesting had occurred in previous years.Vivaldi ( in litt , 5 September 1986) described the nesting abundance ofC. mydas as "high", but it is not clear what this was based on.Trends in nesting numbers Vivaldi ( in litt. . 5 September 1986)considered the nesting population of Green Turtles to be decreasing. Carret al. (1982) noted that Green Turtles nested on Culebra and Vieques insmaller numbers than in former years.Nesting season Nesting reported by Gonzalez (1984) occurred mainlybetween May and September but in one case it was reported to have occurredbetween May and February.Foraging sites Gonzalez (1984) identified foraging sites at the BahiaPlaya Blanca on Vieques Island and on the reefs at Culebra Island.Juveniles were reported to be abundant, particularly at Culebra, and werealso found at Mona (Carr et al . 1982).POPULATION : Eretmochelya imbricataNesting sites Nesting sites were identified at Green Beach on Vieques;Playa Sardinera on Mona; Playa Resaca, Playa Brava, Playa Larga and CayoNorte on Culebra; several beaches on Culebrita; and at Playa Punta Arena,Tablonal de Aguada, Pinones and possibly Playa Jobos de Isabela on themainland. Bacon (1981) noted nesting on Monita. On Mona, the primarybeaches are at the west of the island, between Sardinera and Carite.Further, more scattered nesting occurs along the south coast (Kontos, 1988).Nesting numbers Bacon (1981) reported occasional nesting on mainlandPuerto Rico and Carr et al. (1982) noted numerous Hawksbills nesting on MonaIsland and occasional nesting on Vieques and Culebra. Olson (1985) reportedfinding 151 Hawksblll nests on Mona Island during a study in 1984. Thistotal was later questioned by Kontos (1988) who adjusted it down to lessthan 100 on the basis that Olson's figure was derived from nest pits ratherthan actual nests. Surveys from 1985 to 1987 gave totals of 85, 68 and 71nests on Mona for the three years respectively (Kontos, 1988).Trends In nesting numbers Vivaldi ( in litt. . 5 September 1986)considered the Hawksbill nesting population to be decreasing. Gonzalez(1984) reported the occurrence of 105 Hawksbill nests at Uvero Carabinero inNovember 1973. Kontos (1988) examined the trends in nesting numbers on NonaIsland using, as a baseline, a survey carried out in 1974 which estimated atotal of 171 nests in that year. By 1987, nesting numbers had fallen to 71,some 42% of the 1974 figure.431