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Status of nesting loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta at Bald Head Island (North Carolina, USA) after 24 years of intensive monitoring and conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2005

Lucy A. Hawkes ,
Annette C. Broderick ,
Matthew H. Godfrey  and
Brendan J. Godley
Lucy A. Hawkes
Affiliation:
Also at: Bald Head Island Conservancy, PO Box 3109, Bald Head Island, NC 28461-7000, USA Marine Turtle Research Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Tremough Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK
Annette C. Broderick
Affiliation:
Marine Turtle Research Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Tremough Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK
Matthew H. Godfrey
Affiliation:
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 1507 Ann Street, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
Brendan J. Godley
Affiliation:
Marine Turtle Research Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter in Cornwall, Tremough Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK
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Abstract

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A 24-year set of data from monitoring of a nesting beach at Bald Head Island, North Carolina, USA, was analysed in parallel with limited data from nearby rookeries to investigate trends in loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nesting numbers. There was no statistical evidence of an increasing or decreasing trend in numbers of clutches laid per year, although a significant decrease in the number of turtles nesting and number of clutches laid per year was found from 1991. Remigrating turtles were larger and had larger annual clutch frequencies than neophyte turtles. Annual levels of nesting at beaches within the Cape Fear area were significantly correlated. The stable trend in number of clutches laid across more than two decades is discussed in relation to other factors affecting marine turtles in North American waters.

Keywords

Bald Head IslandCaretta carettaloggerhead turtlemonitoringnestingUSA
Type
Articles
Information
Oryx , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 65 - 72
Copyright
© 2005 Fauna & Flora International