Sea turtle nesting at Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument, 1980-1985
Zullo ES. 1986. Sea turtle nesting at Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument, 1980-1985. National Park Service
This report summarizes data from the "Sea Turtle Monitoring Program" at Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument from 1980-1985. Before 1980 at Buck Island there was no systematic program to monitor species and numbers of sea turtles nesting on Buck Island. In 1980, Buck Island Reef National Monument rangers began to participate in the National Park Service Southeastern Regional "Sea Turtle Monitoring Program". Due to a severe shortage of manpower, data are fragmentary for the 1980 and 1981 seasons. In 1983 more effort was devoted to the program with the realization that Buck Island was an important nesting habitat for hawksbill turtles. Rangers collected data on turtle nesting activities several times a week while on foot patrols. Emphasis was placed on locating and protecting nesting activities. From 1980-1985, nesting season was from April to December, peaking from July to October. Three species of turtles use Buck Island for nesting, with a small number of leatherback nests (3-5) and green nests (7-8) found along with 20-40 nests of hawksbills annually in the 1983-1985 period. Data are presented which indicate that many nests were lost due to (1) erosion of nest site, (2) predation by mongoose, and (3) poaching by man. Mongoose predation is particularly severe (up to around 40%) and efforts to eradicate these introduced pests are discussed. The report concludes with management implications and recommendations.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Zullo, Evonne
- Date of Issue
- 1986-07
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BUIS , VIIS
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Atlantic hawksbill, Chelonia mydas, Cheloniidae, Dermochelyidae, Dermochelys coriacea, Eretomochelys imbricata, Erosion, green sea turtle, Herpestes auropunctatus, Indian mongoose, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), leatherback sea turtle, Monitoring, Nesting, Nests, Poaching, Predation, Sea Turtles, Threats, Virgin Islands National Park St. John US Virgin Islands