Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting Sites Viewer
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Site search options based on the number of crawls/year

Green X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
Loggerhead X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
Hawksbill X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
Leatherback X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
Olive Ridley X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
Kemp's Ridley X < 25 25-100 100-500 500-1000 > 1000
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Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting Sites - Panama

Abstract

Four species of sea turtle nest in Panama, with hawksbills and leatherbacks being the most common. Regionally significant nesting colonies of hawksbills and leatherbacks are located on the east coast at Playa Chiriqui, where 500-1000 hawksbill and more than 1000 leatherback crawls are recorded annually. Sea turtles are fully protected by law.

For more information see:
Dow, Wendy, Karen Eckert, Michael Palmer and Philip Kramer. 2007. An Atlas of Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat for the Wider Caribbean Region. The Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network and The Nature Conservancy. WIDECAST Technical Report No. 6. Beaufort, North Carolina. 267 pages, plus electronic Appendices. (Panama excerpt).

Data providers

Anne Meylan (Anne.Meylan@MyFWC.com)
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Argelis Ruiz (ruiza@si.edu)
Manager
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Caribbean Conservation Cooperation
Caribbean Conservation Cooperation

References

Carr, A., A. Meylan, J. Mortimer, K. Bjorndal, and T. Carr. 1982. Surveys of sea turtle populations and habitats in the Western Atlantic. United States Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service. NOAA Technical Memo NMFS-SEFC-91
Meylan, A., and P. Maylan. 1985. Nesting of Dermochelys coriacea in Caribbean Panama. Journal of Herpetology. 19:293-297
Meylan, A., Castillo, I., Decastro Gonzales, N., Ordońez, C., Troeng, S., Ruia, A., and P. Meylan. 2006. Bastimentos Island National Marine Park and Playa Chiriqui: Protected areas vital to the recovery of the hawksbill turtle in Caribbean Panama. Book of Abstracts. 26th Annual SSymposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, Crete, Greece, 3-8 April 2006. pp. 145-146
Ordońez, C., A. Ruiz, S. Troeng, A. Meylan, and P. Meylan. 2006. Final Project Report "2005 Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) research and population recovery at Chiriqui Beach and Escudo de Veragas Island, and bastimentos Island National Marine Park
Ordońez, C., S. Troëng, A. Meylan, P. Meylan and A. Ruiz. 2007. Chiriquí Beach, Panama, the most important leatherback nesting beach in Central America. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 6(1):122-126

Nesting sites summary (#Crawls/year)

Beach Name Year data
collected		 Green Loggerhead Hawksbill Leatherback Olive
Ridley		 Kemp's
Ridley
Bahia Aglatomate 1979-1983 X
Beach east of Napakanti Tiwar River 1979-1983 X
Big Zapatilla Cay 2005 25-100 <25
Carreto 1979-1983 X
Cuango 1979-1983 X
Escudo de Veragas 2005 25-100 <25
Isla de Cana Blanca - Waikin Cay) 1979 X
Masucum or Portogandi 1979-1983 X
Napakanti or Navagandi 1979-1983 X
Playa Bluff/ Flores Beach - Isla Colon 2001-2004 X X
Playa Chiquita 1979-1983 X
Playa Chiriqui 2006 25-100 500-1000 >1000
Playa Colorada 1979-1983 X
Playa de Rio Playan Grande 1979-1983 X
Playa Large - Bastimentos 2006 X X X X
Playa Pito 1979-1983 100-500
Punta Blancheta 1979-1983 X
Punta Sasardi 1979-1983 X
Red Beach 2005 <25 <25
Rio Carti Grande 1979-1983 X
Rio Pitgandi 1979-1983 X
San San 2001-2004 25-100
Sixaola 2001-2004 25-100
Small Zapatilla Cay 2005 <25 100-500
Soropta 2001-2004 X X 100-500
OBIS-SEAMAP ID415
Country/Territory CodePA
# of Nesting Sites25 sites in 1 countries/territories
Last updated2007-06-27 16:51:28
Download documentAtlas of Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat (PDF)