Stranding of a Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758), in the Turkish Black Sea

• Published in: Zoology in the Middle East Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 115 - 117
• Main Authors: Öztürk, Bayram, Tonay, Arda M., Akkaya, Aylin, Öztürk, Ayaka Amaha, Dede, Ayhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01-01-2011
• Subjects: Chelonia mydas; MED, Ukraine; MED, Romania; MED, Turkey, Akyatan; MED, Syria; MED, Aegean Sea; MED, Turkey; MED, Bulgaria; MED, Cyprus; MED, Black Sea
• ISSN: 0939-7140; 2326-2680
• DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2011.10638487

Nesting of Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758),, occurs in the Mediterranean Sea at the eastern end of the basin, with nesting sites found in Turkey, Syria and Cyprus (Kasparek et al. 2001). The most important nesting beaches are Kazanli, Akyatan, Samandagi (Turkey), Latakia (Syria), and a few scattered beaches on Cyprus (e.g. Baran & Kasparek 1989a). The species has so far not been found in the Aegean Sea, and only once in the Black Sea: Nankinov (1998) found only one Green Turtle record from Bulgaria: a 70 cm long specimen was caught as fishery bycatch at Sozopol 16.11.1898. No records are available from Romania (NANKINOV 1998), and according to Valkanov et al. (1978) there are no reports of sea turtles from the former Soviet coasts. They have also not been observed along the coast of Ukraine for several decades (Y. Zaitsev, pers. comm.).