Assessment of the Loggerhead Turtle Population in the Western North Atlantic Ocean. A Report of the Turtle Expert Working Group

摘要

It's been nearly a decade since the Turtle Expert Working Group (TEWG) last assessed the Western North Atlantic populations of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). An updated report at this time was deemed necessary given the apparent changes in the nesting trends of loggerhead subpopulations that were thought to be stable or recovering and the publication of additional information on the stocks. The TEWG had assessed recovery by the increasing numbers of nests in the Peninsular Florida subpopulation while the Northern U.S. Subpopulation was at best stable. Over the past decade, the annual numbers of nests of all the loggerhead subpopulations in the Western North Atlantic were decreasing through 2007, with an upturn in 2008.