2009 Volume 65 Issue 1 Pages 1141-1145
Reproductive activity of loggerhead sea turtles can be classified into 3 stages: landing, oviposition, and hatching. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of environmental factors such as beach elevation and sand temperature on the reproductive activity of loggerhead turtles nesting on the beach. It was found that the number of landings in the period 2005-2008 was smaller on the beach in front of detached breakwaters than the other areas of beach without breakwaters. The length of tracks with successful nests (oviposition) was significantly larger than the length of tracks with abandoned nesting attempts (oviposition failure). In the hatching stage, sand depth was found to affect incubation temperature.