Status of Sea Turtle Nesting in Southern Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

Status of sea turtle nesting in southern Baja California. Mexico by Thomas H. Fritts, Margery L. Stinson, and Rene Marquez M. Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci., 81(2):51-60, 1982. A paucity of data on nesting by sea turtles on beaches in Baja California, México exists. Terrestrial and aerial surveys of coastal Baja California Sur between Punta Marques on the outer coast and La Paz on the gulf coast in August and September 1978, located nesting beaches presumably frequented by Lepidochelys olivacea. Successful oviposition by these turtles is apparently dependent upon beach configuration and recent rainfall patterns that affect the friability of the sand. A high percentage of open nest holes were found in sand too friable to maintain its shape during construction of nest chambers. Reports from local residents of southern Baja California suggest that leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) nest in southern Baja California from October through March. The carapace of a female leatherback killed while nesting near Cabo Falso substantiates oral reports of other nestings in 1976-1978.