SREL Reprint #1891

Growth and estimated age at maturity of Queensland loggerheads

Nat B. Frazer1, Colin J. Limpus2, and Judith L. Greene1

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29803 USA
2Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Brisbane, QLD 4002, Australia

Introduction: Demographic models of loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta in Western Atlantic waters provided strong support for the regulated deployment of turtle excluder devices (TEDS) on shrimp trawl nets to reduce incidental take of larger juvenile and adult turtles deemed important for population stability (Crouse et al., 1987; Crowder et al., in prep). Such models also may be used to pose and answer interesting questions relating to the evolution of life histories (Lewontin, 1965; Dunham et al., 1989).
Developing demographic models of loggerhead sea turtle populations from South Pacific waters in eastern Australia is therefore of interest to students of both applied and theoretical biology. However, one of the main problems faced by sea turtle demographers is that of determining age at maturity. Zug et al. (1986) provided a method for estimating ages of loggerhead sea turtles by counting annuli in the long bones, but the method requires sacrificing individuals of this threatened or endangered species. There are at present no reliable, nondestructive means of determining an individual sea turtle's age in the wild.

SREL Reprint #1891

Frazer, N.B., C.J. Limpus, and J.L. Greene. 1994. Growth and estimated age at maturity of Queensland loggerheads. pp. 42-45 In: K. A. Bjorndal, A. B. Bolten, D. A. Johnson, and P. J. Eliazar. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 14th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-351., Hilton Head, SC. 

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).