Nesting ecology of the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas along the Saurashtra coast

Venkatesan, S and Kannan, P and Rajagopalan, M and Vivekanandan, E (2004) Nesting ecology of the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas along the Saurashtra coast. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 46 (2). pp. 169-177.

Preview

PDF Venkatesan_169-177.pdf Download (1MB)

Abstract

The nest and clutch characteristics of the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas were assessed during 2000-02 in the Mangrol -Porbandar beach of Saurashtra coast (Lat. 21" 6' - 21" 38' N; Long. 69" 37' - 70" 6' E) in India during December 2001 -January 2002. The nesting density was 5.1 nests/km. Within the area of survey, the nesting site preference was evaluated for 11 transects. Maximum nest density was within 20 m from the high tide line where moisture content of the soil was 3.6%. Of the total nests observed (194), the depth of 63% nests varied between 71 - 90 cm. Except in one transect, the soil particle size was below 0.7 mm. There was no correlation between the nest density, and the soil pH and salinity. The number of eggs in each clutch ranged from 61 - 135 with a mean of 93. About 25% of the nests were predated by wild animals. The mean hatching and emergence success was 79% and 76%, respectively. It is estimated that 17,964 eggs were laid, but only 10,936 hatchlings emerged successfully and reached the sea. Key words: Nesting ecology, green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Green sea turtle; Chelonia mydas; Saurashtra coast
Subjects:	Marine Turtle
Divisions:	CMFRI-Kochi > Fishery Environment Management Division Subject Area > CMFRI > CMFRI-Kochi > Fishery Environment Management Division CMFRI-Kochi > Fishery Environment Management Division Subject Area > CMFRI-Kochi > Fishery Environment Management Division
Depositing User:	Users 5 not found.
Date Deposited:	16 Aug 2010 19:14
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2015 15:15
URI:	http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/id/eprint/2021

Actions (login required)

View Item