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Confirmation of recent hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata nesting activity on South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2013

Aaron C. Henderson  and
Megan Nash
Aaron C. Henderson*
Affiliation:
The School for Field Studies, Center for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies
Megan Nash
Affiliation:
The School for Field Studies, Center for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A.C. Henderson, The School for Field Studies, Center for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies email: ahenderson@fieldstudies.org
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Abstract

Sea turtle nesting had thought to be extirpated from South Caicos decades ago, but in December 2012 hatchling hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata were discovered emerging from the sand on a small beach in Shark Bay. Nest emergence was asynchronous and was spread out over at least two weeks. The nest was subsequently excavated and was found to contain the remains of 142 eggs, 128 of which appeared to have hatched successfully. It is unclear if Shark Bay is a regular nesting site, or if this nesting event was a transient occurrence.

Keywords

sea turtlenestingCaribbean
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 6 , 2013 , e97
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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