Sea Turtle Beach Monitoring Program in Brazil

Max Rondon Werneck,Paula Baldassin,Larissa Araújo Nunes,De Almeida,Suzana Guimarães,Ana Luiza Meira Oliveira,Pedro Dutra Lacerda

doi:10.5772/intechopen.76647

Abstract

Beach monitoring programs provide important information on spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence, mortality, age structure, sex ratio, and variations associated with climatic and anthropogenic events as well as for the assessment of the health of marine organisms. The purpose of the Santos Basin Beach Monitoring Project is to evaluate the possible effects of oil and gas production and transport activities at Santos Basin on marine turtles, birds, and mammals by monitoring beaches and veterinary care facilities for live and dead animals. Five species of sea turtles occur in Brazil: the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), and leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), all of which are endangered and are fragile organisms that suffer from the impact of human activities during their long lifecycle. This chapter reports monitoring strategy activities and preliminary results after 1 year since the implementation the monitoring project to provide an important overview of sea turtles found in the Santos Basin.

Highlights

Sea turtles belong to the group Testudines, considered one of the most primitive Order of reptiles, and the oldest specimen found dating back 120 million years to the lower Cretaceous period [1]
The family Cheloniidae has six species: the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), Kemp’s ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), and flatback turtle (Natator depressus), the latter two of which are the only species that do not occur in Brazil [3, 4]
Green sea turtles accounted for 92.7% of the stranding events (1055 occurrences) (Table 5)

Summary

Introduction

Sea turtles belong to the group Testudines, considered one of the most primitive Order of reptiles, and the oldest specimen found dating back 120 million years to the lower Cretaceous period [1]. These organisms belong to the order Testudines, which includes chelonians with the body encompassed by a bony carapace formed by the fusion of ribs and vertebrae [2]. There are currently seven species distributed in two families. The family Dermochelyidae has only one species: the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Sea turtles have broad geographic distribution, occurring in all oceanic basins, with representatives found from the Arctic to Tasmania [3]. The reproduction of most individuals occurs in tropical and subtropical regions [4]

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Discussion

Conclusion