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Is the Spanish coast within the regular nesting range of the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta)?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2008

Jesús Tomás ,
Manel Gazo ,
Carla Álvarez ,
Patricia Gozalbes ,
Diana Perdiguero ,
Juan Antonio Raga  and
Ferrán Alegre
Jesús Tomás*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK
Manel Gazo
Affiliation:
Fundació CRAM—Cami Ral 239, 08330 Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Spain
Carla Álvarez
Affiliation:
Fundació CRAM—Cami Ral 239, 08330 Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Spain
Patricia Gozalbes
Affiliation:
Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Apartado 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
Diana Perdiguero
Affiliation:
Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Apartado 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
Juan Antonio Raga
Affiliation:
Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Apartado 22085, E-46071, Valencia, Spain
Ferrán Alegre
Affiliation:
Fundació CRAM—Cami Ral 239, 08330 Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Jesús Tomás, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK email: J.Tomas@exeter.ac.uk
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Abstract

We report the information on loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting events which occurred on the Spanish Mediterranean coast in 2006. Two clutches of 78 and 82 eggs were discovered in the provinces of Valencia (eastern Spain) and Barcelona (north-eastern Spain). We discuss the increasing number of reports of sea turtle nests in Spain within the context of the nesting range of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.

Keywords

Loggerhead sea turtleCaretta carettaWestern Mediterraneannesting
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 7 , November 2008 , pp. 1509 - 1512
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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