World Status, Exploitation and Trade - WIDECAST

ISENEGALPOPULAT I ON :Chelonia mydasNesting sites Although C. mydas is commonly encountered along the coastof Senegal, confirmed nesting sites are few, and the country appears to bemore important in providing foraging grounds. Reported nesting locationsinclude, the Langue de Barbarie N.P. (at the mouth of the Senegal River,near St Louis on the border with Mauritania), unspecified points on thecoast between St Louis and Dakar, Somone, Joal, Sangomar Point, and isletsin the Saloum delta (Malgret, 1977 and 1983). Much of the coast is remoteand remains unsurveyed.Nesting numbers Little information is available, but on present evidence(Malgret, 1983; Dupuy, 1986) numbers would appear to be low to very low. Nolarge nesting aggregations are known (Malgret, 1978). According to Dupuy(1986), most nests in 1985 were found at Sangomar Point and in Saloum DeltaN.P. ; however, almost all observations listed by Dupuy are of fewer thanfive nests, mostly by species unidentified. Dupuy reported about 20confirmed nestings in Senegal in 1985 (this appears to include at leastthree species).Trends in nesting numbers Turtle numbers are reported to be declining inSenegal (Malgret, 1977; Dupuy, 1986). Malgret (1983) cited information fromlocal inhabitants of the Langue de Barbarie N.P. that 20 years ago around200 nests were laid each season, but fewer than ten nests had been seen inthe late 1970s, and only two in 1977. According to Dupuy, there were aminimum of 200 nestings on the Senegal coast in the 1950s, about ten a yearafter 1950, and about 20 in 1985. Dupuy's statement, apparently referringto all species and all Senegal, appears to correspond closely with Malgret'statement, referring to C. mydas and the Langue de Barbarie N.P. alone.Nesting season Nesting in the Langue de Barbarie N.P. is mostly betweenJuly-August, and some nesting in the Saloum area occurs in February-March(Malgret, 1977). Dupuy (1986) reports nesting in July-October andJanuary-March.Foraging sites The species appears to occur along much of the Senegalcoast, where abundance is closely linked to the distribution of seagrasspastures; highest numbers seem to occur near the mouths of the Casamance andGambia rivers, the channels of the Saloum delta, and the Joal region(Malgret, 1983).Migration The C. mydas population in Senegal appears to be partlymigratory (Dupuy, 1986), but no detailed Information Is available.POPULATION : Eretmochelys imbricataVery little information is available. The species has been recorded inSenegal waters, although quite rarely; while no confirmed nest sites areknown, sporadic nesting may well occur on remote beaches. Previous recordsof the species are from Hann and Dakar; more recent records are from theSaloum delta, Cap Skirring and Casamance; it is caught in the Saloum deltaby fishermen from Betentl (Maigret, 1983). According to Dupuy (1986), whileE. imbricata occurs along much of the Senegal coast, numbers are highestsouth of Hbour.453