A Worldwide Travel Guide to Sea Turtles

Contents

PREFACE xiii SEA TUR TLES AND THE THREATS TO THEIR SUR VIVAL 1 Sea Turtle Species 2 The Nesting Experience 6 Threats to Sea Turtles 8 A Worldwide Travel Guide to Sea Turtles 19 United States 21 California and the West Coast 21 Florida 24 Georgia 38 Hawai'i 41 North Carolina 42 South Carolina 47 Texas 52 Caribbean Islands 61 Cayman Islands Sea Turtle Farming 62 Cuba 64 Dominica 67 Grenada 70 Puerto Rico 71 St. Eustatius 73 Trinidad and Tobago 77 US Virgin Islands 79 St Croix, Jack & Issac's Bay Preserve 81 Contents viii Mexico 85 Baja California Sur 85 Colima 93 Guerrero 96 Oaxaca 97 Quintana Roo 98 Central America 109 Costa Rica 109 El Salvador 125 Guatemala 127 Nicaragua 130 Panama 136 South America 139 Brazil 139 Uruguay 141 Mediterranean Sea 143 Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles, Athens 143 The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, Zakynthos 145 Africa 147 Cape Verde 147 Gabon 154 Ghana 156 Kenya, Watamu Turtle Program 158 Mozambique 159 South Africa 161 Indian Ocean 165 India 165 Oman 169 South Pacific 173 National Park of American Samoa/National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa 173 Australia 175 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 181 Indonesia 182 Ulithi Sea Turtle Project, Micronesia 186 Samoa 188 Arnavons Community Marine Conservation Area, Solomon Islands 189 CAPTIVE ENCOUNTERS 19 3 Reef HQ Aquarium, Australia 194 Neotropical Foundation, Tenerife, Canary Islands 194 Xcaret, Quintana Roo, Mexico 195 South Africa 195 United States 196 RESOURCES AND ORGANIZATIONS 209 INDEX 21 7 x xi T HIS is the inaugural volume in a series of Marine, Maritime, and Coastal Books published by Texas A&M University Press and sponsored by Texas A&M University at Galveston. The ea turtle is at the frontline of conservation efforts for endangered or threatened species, and public opinion plays a key role in helping sea turtle populations recover and remain healthy. A Worldwide Travel Guide to Sea Turtles is an important contribution to their continued existence. Written for both passive armchair enthusiasts and active hip-boot sloggers, it is a readable layperson’s turtle-watching guide that balances the rigors of scientific a curacy with the benefi s of ecotourism and volunteer vacations. Stephen Curley and William Merrell General Editors Marine, Maritime & Coastal Books A hawksbill turtle hatchling shortly after emerging from the nest in El Salvador. (Photo by Brad Nahill/SEEtheWILD) ...