World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

1SAUDI ARABIASAUDI ARABIA:GULFPOPULATION:Chelonla mydasNesting sites Most nesting occurs on the following offshore islands. Indescending order of Importance: Karan, Jana, Kurayn, Jurayd. About 80% ofthe Saudi Gulf nesting population of C. mydas uses Karan (Basson et al .1977). Another source (Burchard, undated, 1982?) states that about 80% ofnesting (all species) occurs on Karan plus Jana. Some nesting occurs oroccurred on the mainland (early 1970s), but this is likely to have now beenreduced or eliminated due to industrial and other development (Burchard,1982).Nesting numbers A combination of daily nest counting on Jana plus aerialsurvey of body pits, suggested an approximate total of 3000 females usingthe six Saudi coral Islands in 1973 (Burchard, 1982). A later estimate(Burchard, undated, 1982?) suggests a total nesting population of12 000-15 000 adults; if it is assumed that this is Intended to includeadult males (which may not be the case), and that one third of the totalpopulation breeds in any given year, an approximate total of 2000-2500nesting females per season is suggested.Results of more recent survey work. (Miller, in prep.) are not yetavailable. Ross ( in litt. . 29 December 1986) notes that these data confirmthat published estimates are the correct order of magnitude: publishedestimates include "gatherings of several hundred Individuals in the vicinityof certain offshore Islands" (Basson et al. . 1977), or around 500 femalesannually, or more than 1000 (Ross and Barwani, 1982; Table 2 and Figure 1,respectively)Trends in nesting numbers Trends in nesting numbers are not known.Several factors likely to have an adverse impact on nesting numbers areevident (Basson et al. . 1977; Burchard, 1982 and undated 1982?)Nesting season April-September (Basson et al. . 1977).Foraging sites Adult and half-grown turtles are often seen throughoutthe year on seagrass pastures between Safanlya and al'Uqayr, and arecommonly found in Tarut Bay (where they are sometimes caught in shrimptrawls) (Basson et al. . 1977). There are over 1000 sq . km of suitableseagrass pastures, which form a major feeding area in the Gulf (Ross andBarwani, 1982). However, the majority of nesting turtles appear to migrateto more distant feeding grounds.Migration Turtles present in Saudi Gulf waters Include a migratorycomponent, comprising the majority of Green Turtles in the area, which neston the Gulf islands and migrate to foraging areas elsewhere, and a smallresident component (lUCN, 1987b).POPULATION : Eretmochelys imbricataNesting sites Nesting occurs on the same offshore islands used by GreenTurtles: Karan, Jana, Kurayn, Jurayd. Similarly, Karan is the major site,followed by Jana (Burchard, undated, 1982?).448