March 7, 2009

The Turtle Export Control bill goes to the Senate this week

The Turtle Export Control bill seeks to prohibit the capture and mass export of turtles in South Carolina. The bill passed the House last week and is on the agenda to be considered by a Senate Fish, Game and Forestry subcommittee Thursday.

South Carolina Turtles
Chicken turtle Chicken turtle Common Snapping turtle Common snapping turtle
Eastern Painted turtle Eastern painted turtle Eastern River Cooter turtle Eastern river cooter turtle
Florida Box Turtle Florida Box Turtle Florida Cooter Florida cooter
Florida Softshell turtle Florida Softshell turtle Spiny Softshell turtle Spiny softshell turtle
Yellow-bellied Slider turtle Yellow-bellied slider turtle

Violation of the law would carry a $200 fine per turtle.

Images courtesy of Wikipedia.

florida softshell turtle florida box turtle yellow bellied slider spiny softshell turtle chicken turtle eastern river cooter turtle eastern painted turtle florida cooter common snapping turtle

January 22, 2009

Loggerhead nesting for 2008 was 7th highest year on record

loggerhead turtle on the beachIt’s great to hear that 2008 was a great year for loggerhead turtle nest sightings – 3x better than 2004 sightings – but it’s still a far cry from previous highs. The Marine Turtle Conservation Program website has lots of data if you want more information.

Meanwhile, SeaTurtle.org shows Charleston County has the most stranded turtle nests in SC (possibly due to it’s long coastline), and most of those were loggerheads:

Loggerhead Green Kemp’s Ridley Leatherback Hawksbill No ID Total
Beaufort 6 2 9 1 0 0 18
Charleston 37 3 11 2 0 0 53
Colleton 1 1 2 0 0 1 5
Georgetown 10 4 3 0 0 1 18
Horry 20 0 2 1 0 1 24
Jasper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 74 10 27 4 0 3 118

The main threat to adult loggerhead turtles is shrimp trawls, and crab nets and shrimp trawls threaten Kemp’s Ridley turtles too.

florida softshell turtle florida box turtle yellow bellied slider spiny softshell turtle chicken turtle eastern river cooter turtle eastern painted turtle florida cooter common snapping turtle


    





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