LIMA,A. P. 1998. The effects of size on the diets of six sympatric species Arianotsou 1988). Israel (Kuller 1995. 1999), Libya (Laurent et of postmetamorphic litter anurans in Central Amazonia. J. Herpetol. al. 1995, 1997; Venizelos 1996), Syria (Kasparek 1995) and Tur- 32592-399. key (Baran and Kasparek 1989; Coley and Smart 1992; Yerli and . AND G.MOREIRA. 1993. Effects of prey size and foraging mode Demirayak 1996; Gerosa et al. 1998). In addition, a comprehen- on the ontogenetic change in feeding niche of Colostethus stepheni sive synopsis of the status of marine turtles in the Eastern Medi- (Anura: Dendrobatidae). Oecologia 95:93- 102. , terranean region can be found in Kasparek (2001 ). , KRUGEL.P., AND S. RICHTER.1995. Syncope antenori-a bromeliad breed- ! In recent years the coast of Egypt has received less attention ing frog with free-swimming, nonfeeding tadpoles (Anura, 11 Microhylidae). Copeia 1995:955-963. than its eastern Mediterranean neighbors such as Israel and Libya.

MORAIIS,V. R. 1995. Checklist and taxonomic bibliography of the am- consequently the exact status of nesting populations in this region $, phibians from Peru. Smithson. Herpetol. Infor. Ser. 107: 1-20. is unclear. Preliminary surveys of the coastline between the city RAND.A. S., AND R. DUDLEY.1993. Frogs in helium: The anuran vocal sac of Alexandria and the Libyan border (western region; Fig. 1) per- , is not a cavity resonator. Physiol. Zool. 66:793-806. formed by Kasparek (1 993), indicated that negligible marine turtle SIMON,M. P., AND C. A. TOFT1991. Diet specialization in small verte- nesting activity was occurring in this region. We confirmed this in brates: mite-eating in frogs. Oikos 61:263-278. , 1998 while conducting a survey of the entire Mediterranean coast WALKER,C. F. 1973. A new genus and species of microhylid frog from Ecuador. Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas 20: 1-17. of Egypt (Clarke et al. 2000), finding only limited circumstantial evidence (i.e., three sets of emergence tracks and no nests) of nest- 1 ZIMMERMAN,B. L., AND D. SIMBERLOFF.1996. An historical interpretation i of habitat use by frogs in aCentral Amazonian forest. J. Biogeog. 23:27- ing activity in the western region. Similarly, no evidence of nest- i 46. ing was found in the Nile Delta (central region; Fig. l), during the 1998 survey. Evidence was found however, that a small population of green Hrrpcrillo~~~IRrvirir. 2003, 3413 I. 20&2 10. 0 2003 hy Society lor the Study of Amphibians and Repliles and loggerhead turtles were nesting on beaches of the Sinai in eastern Egypt, close to the border with Israel. In this paper we Identification of Marine Turtle Nesting Beaches document the results of a three-year study to quantify the extent on the Mediterranean Coast of Sinai, Egypt of marine turtle nesting activity occurring along the Sinai coast between the border town of Rhafa to the east, and Port Said to the west (eastern region; Fig. 1). MICHAEL CLARKE* Methods.-The Mediterranean coast of the Sinai measures 220 and ANDREW C. CAMPBELL km from the Israeli border to the Suez Canal at Port Said; of this Department of Biology, Queen Mar\ College, Univmh of London, Mile End section, 200.7 km is sandy beach with potentially suitable habitat Road. London El 4NS. U.K for marine turtle nesting. Other than the two inlets to Bardawil lagoon (Fig. 2), the coast in this region is continuous sandy beach *Correspondiq author: present address: 4S88 Cameo Drive, Santa Maria, California 93455, USA; e-mail: [email protected] with few natural divisions; therefore, for the purposes of this sur- vey it was arbitrarily divided into 19 beaches. The limits of these The majority of sandy beaches in the Mediterranean have been divisions were determined by the presence of an easily identifi- surveyed to determine the location of marine turtle nesting areas. able landmark, or as a length of coastline that could be surveyed Detailed information is available on the status of green (Chelonia in a convenient time period (details are given in Table 1 and Fig. mydas L.) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta L.) turtle populations 2). In the lagoon region (i.e., beaches 8-16; Fig. 2) only the north nesting in northern Cyprus (Broderick and Godley 1996; Glen et side of the outer sandbar was surveyed, as interviews with local al. 1996; Godley et al. 1996), southern Cyprus (Demetropoulos fishermen revealed that marine turtles had never been observed and Hadjichristophorou 1989, 1993, Greece (Margaritoulis 1983; nesting in the inner lagoon.

FIG.1. Map of the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt.

Herpetological Review 34(3),2003 ent et TABLLI. Locality and character of beaches surveyed in north Sinai. I Tur- li and # Beach Name Coordinates Length Comments 2hen- Western limit Eastern limit Aedi- Rhafa Residential1 tourist beach El Sheik Zwayed Residential1 tourist beach ntion El Shalak Light tourism ibya, El Kharruba Light tourism 3gion El Arish Residentiall tourist beach i city El Masaid Residential1 tourist beach ) per- Abo Flifel Light tourism turtle Zaranik Protected area his in Bardawil - Zaranik to Inlet #2 Mostly deserted coast Bardawil- Inlet #2 to Bogaz Mostly deserted intial Bardawil- Bogaz Mostly deserted nest- Bardawil- El Kalls Mostly deserted nest- Bardawil- El Kalls to Inlet #I Mostly deserted g the Bardawil- El Shagara Mostly deserted Bardawil -El Mohamadyat Mostly deserted !reen Romana Residential1 tourist beach mi in Salina Inlet Mostly deserted :r we El Malaha Mostly deserted xtent Port SaidIFaud Mostly deserted coast o the Total

-. 220 During the period from late May to mid-September (the main Early in the season, beaches were re-visited every two weeks f this turtle nesting season in the eastern Mediterranean; Baran and until an emergence track was found. Thereafter a beach was vis- ibitat Kasparek 1989; Demetropoulos and Hadjichristophorou 1995) all ited twice weekly; thus no track recorded was more than four days iawil the beaches listed in Table 1 were surveyed during the early morn- old. This allowed for a reasonable estimate of the date of egg depo- )each , ing hours by two-person teams. Access to the beaches was not sition, and gave a good prediction of the hatch date approximately i sur- permitted at night. During the 1998 season. beaches were surveyed 40 days later. The exact location of all emergence tracks was noted these by walking from east to west, with one man on the waterline and using a Magellen 2000 Global Positioning System (GPS). Under ntifi- the other following a parallel track 4-5 m landwards. However, the climatic conditions encountered during the summer months, eyed because of the large distances involved subsequent surveys were emergence tracks were still recognizable for up to three weeks. In , Fig. ' performed using an all terrain vehicle (ATV), with two persons addition, the Egyptian Coast Guard was enlisted to find emergence lorth riding along the beach from east to west. One rider scrutinized the tracks as soldiers patrol every mile of the Sinai coast on a daily local ' water line while the other surveyed the upper beach. basis. Because of these two factors we have high confidence that wed

SINAI

FIG.2. Mediterranean Coast of Sinai showing the location of survey beaches.

Herpetological Review 34(3),2003 TABLE:2. Nesting data for the coast of north Sinai.

Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) # of emergence tracks mean inner track width (cm) mean outer tack width (cm) number of nests with eggs mean clutch size % hatching success # of stranded adults mean CCL of stranded adults (cm)

Green (Chelonia mydas) # of emergence tracks mean inner track width (cm) mean outer track width (cm) number of nests with eggs mean clutch size % hatching success # of stranded adults mean CCL of stranded adults (cm)

Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) # of stranded adults mean CCL of stranded adults (cm)

TABI-E3. Summary of the number of green and loggerhead turtle emergences and nests found on each beach between 1998 and 2000.

Beach 1998 1999 2000

Loggerhead Green Loggerhead Green Loggerhead Green

Tracks Nests Tracks Nests Tracks Nests Tracks Nests Tracks Nests Tracks Nests with eggs with eggs with eggs with eggs with eggs with eggs

very few emergence tracks were overlooked during the survey. irregular as they use the front flippers in an alternating pattern to The species of the emerging turtle was identified from track move on land (Demetropoulos and Hadjichristophorou 1995).The morphology-green turtles leave a regular pattern of imprints in inside and outside widths of the tracks were recorded; the pres- the sand as they use both front flippers simultaneously to haul ence or absence of a body pit noted; and nests checked for egg themselves across the beach. Conversely, loggerhead tracks are deposition. Nests were then marked in a cryptic fashion to allow

208 Herpetologiccil Review 34(3),2003 relocation at a later date. ranean appear to be lower than in other parts of the world; e.g., During the 1999 and 2000 seasons, return visits were made to Hirth (1980) reports the average global clutch size for C. caretta ;he nests to check for hatching 40,42, and 44 days after egg depo- to lie within the range of 101-1 26 eggs. 1 ition. After hatching, the nests were excavated and an assessment The mean hatching success of loggerhead eggs in the area (i.e., made of the number of eggs laid, and hatching success. The curved 66.4% in 1999; and 76.2 I 5% in 2000) was similar to that of 79.1 % nirapace length (CCL) and species of dead stranded turtles, or reported from southern Cyprus, and 67.7% reported from ! narts of turtles, were also recorded throughout the survey. Zakynthos, Greece (Peters and Verhoeven 1992). Overall, the nest- Rcw/t,s.-Evidence was found that loggerhead and green turtles ing and survival statistics for loggerhead hatchlings from the Egyp- nest in the eastern region of the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai tian Sinai coast are comparable to other populations found else- ' iTable 2). Emergence tracks and/or nests were found on 15 of the where in the eastern Mediterranean. Because of the very small 19 beaches surveyed during the three-year study. Most of the ac- number of green turtle eggs found, no meaningful conclusions on [nity was concentrated on beaches 1-7, situated at the eastern hatching success or mean clutch size can be drawn at this time. -.ilkof the study area (Table 3). Ii 1 Loggerhead turtles utilized the area most heavily, with 20, 32, Acknowledgments.-This project was supported by a grant from the ,ind 37 confirmed egg depositions being found in 1998, 1999, and British government administered through the Darwin Initiativefor the 001 respectively. Green turtles utilized the area to a lesser de- Survival ofSpecies program. Many thanks to the Egyptian survey team yee. with 1.0. and 3 confirmed egg depositions being found dur- and Dr. Samir Ghoneim for their invaluable help with this work. Appre- ciation is also extended to Mr. Mohamed I. M. Ibrahim and the staff of ig 1998, 1999, and 2000. No evidence of nesting by leatherback the EEAA office in Cairo for their help with obtaining permits. We are turtles (Dermochelys coriaceu) was found (Table 2). The majority indebted to many individuals and organizations which have helped with of stranded turtles were loggerheads (74), however, a small num- this project, including Anna Baker and Martin Daltry of the British Council, her of green ( 16) and leatherbacks (4) was also found. Peter Hayward of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. The Egyptian Conclusions.-Loggerhead, green, and leatherback marine Coast Guard, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas turtles are present in the waters off the Mediterranean coast of (SPAJRAC) of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), Shell Egypt, WSPA Eaypt: as dead specimens of all three species were found washed and Amoco Egypt. Special appreciation is reserved for James Kennedy ashore during the survey. Conclusive evidence was found that log- and all at ENIlAgip Egypt for their very generous support of this project. yhcad and green turtles nest on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai. No evidence was found to indicate that leatherback turtles nest in this area. ARIANOUTSOLI,M. 1988. Assessing the impacts of human activities on nest- Most nests were located on an 83-km stretch of coastline close ing of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.) on Zakynthos Island 10 the Israeli border (i.e., between beaches 1 to 7; 3 I006'47"N/ Western Greece. Environ. Conserv. 15:327-334. 3c36'56''Eto 3 1 O 1 6'20"N/34°08'37"E)Beaches 1, 2, 3, and 7 BARAN,I., AND M. KASPARAK.1989. Marine turtles in Turkey. Status sur- were the most heavily utilized areas, with 76% of all nests being vey 1988, and recommendations for conservation and management. found on these beaches over the three-year survey. Comparison of World Wide Fund for Nature, Heidelberg, 123 pp. he levels of nesting activity in this region with that reported for BRODERICK,A. C.. AND B. J. GODLEY.1996. Population and nesting ecol- the Mediterranean coast of Egypt as a whole (Clarke ct. al. 2000; ogy of the green turtle, Chelonici mydas, and the loggerhead turtle, Curetta cciretta. in northern Cyprus. Zool. Middle East. Heidel- Kasparek 1993) indicates that the eastern Sinai is the primary berg. l3:2746. marine turtle nesting region for the entire Mediterranean coast of CLARKE,M.. A. C. CAMPB~LL.W. S. HAMEID,AND S. GHONEIM.2000. Pre- Egypt. liminary report on the status of marine turtle nesting populations on The number of female loggerhead turtles nesting in this area is the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Biol. Conserv. 94363-371. apparently small. Given that a single female will lay 1-3 clutches COLEY,J., AND S. C. SMART.1992. The nesting success of green turtles on per reason (Demetropoulos and Hadjichristophorou 1995), results beaches at Kazanli, Turkey. Oryx 26: 165-17 1. suggest that only 10-20 individuals are nesting in the region each DEMETROPOULUS,A.. AND M. HADJICHRISTOHORO~.1989. Sea turtle con- !ear. The number of green turtles utilizing this area is even lower, servation in Cyprus. Mar. Turtle Newsl. 44:4-6. perhaps only one or two individuals per year. These results appear . AND -. 1995 Manual on Marine Turtle Conservation in the Mediterranean. NEP(MAP)SPA/IUCN/CWS/FisheriesDepartment, to be consistent with those reported from the adjacent Israeli coast. MANRE, Cyprus. 77 pp. Kuller ( 1999) reports that during the 1998 nesting season, 40 log- GEROSA,G., M. AUREGGI,P. CASALE. AND S. V. YERLI.1998. Green turtle phead and 13 green turtle nests were found along a 190-km stretch nesting at Akyatan beach, Turkey, 1994-1 997. Mar. Turtle. Newsl. 8 1 :4- ofthe Israeli Mediterranean coastline. However, this does appear 5. IU have been an exceptional year, as the annual mean number of GLEN,F., B. J. GODLEY,AND A. KELLY.1996. Marine turtle monitoring in nests found over the previous five-year period was only 27.4 log- Turkey by students from the University of Glasgow: A report to the gerhead nests and 2.2 green turtle nests. These means are consis- British Council, Ankara. 13 pp. tent with those found during our study of the Mediterranean coast GODLEY,B. J.,A. C. BRODERICK,S. E. SOLOMON,R. TIPPETT, AND R. MALSOM. ofsinai. 1996. Threats to marine turtles in Northern Cyprus, eastern Mediterra- nean. In J. A. Keinath, D. E. Barnard, J. A. Musick, and B. A. Bell The mean number of eggs found in loggerhead nests on the Sinai (eds.), Proceedings of the 15th Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Biol- coast (78.0 in 1998; 64.68 in 1999; and 64.26 in 2000) was within ogy and Conservation, pp. 100-1 04. NOAA Technical Memorandum the range of 60-85 cited for nests from northern and southern NMFS-SEFSC-387. Cyprus (Broderick and Godley 1996; Demetropoulos and HIRTH,H. P. 1980. Some aspects of the nesting behavior and reproductive Had.jichristophorou 1995). Generally. clutch sizes in the Mediter- biology of sea turtles. Am. Zool. 20507-523.

Herpetological Review 34(3),2003 209 KASPAREK,M. 1993. Survey of the Mediterranean coast between Alexan- known forms of the genus, Lachesis muta rhomheata (probably dria and El-Saloum. Egypt. Mar. Turtle Newsl. 63:8-9. identical to the Amazonian form [Zamudio and Greene 19971). . 1995. The nesting of marine turtles on the coast of Syria. Zool. Seventy specimens of Lachesis were collected from different Middle East, Heidelberg. 1 1 :5 1-62. localities in southeastern Bahia, Brazil, from 1988 to 1998. The . (ed.) 2001. Marine Turtles in the Eastern Mediterranean. Zool. Middle East, Heidelberg, 24: 160 pp. specimens are housed in the "Coleqiio Zoologica Gregorio Bondar KLJLLER,Z.1995. Nesting of marine turtles in the Mediterranean coast of (CZGB)" of the Centre de Pesquisas do Cacau (CEPECICEPLAC), Israel - Summer 1994. Isr. J. Zool. 41:96. Ilhkus, BA, Brazil, or in captivity at the same institution. . 1999. Current status and conservation of marine turtles on the Captures were carried out in a strip of ca. 70 km between the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Mar. Turtle Newsl. 863-5. Atlantic coast and 40°20' and 13'1 2's and 16O 16's. Vegetation LAGRENT,L M. N. BRADAI,D A. HADOUD,AMD H. M EL-GOMATI.1995. consists of remnant Atlantic rainforest and cocoa groves Marine turtle nesting activity assessment on Libyan coasts, Phase I: (Theobrotna cacao), pastures, and plantations of rubber and palm survey of the coast between Egyptian border and Sine. RACISPA oil trees. Some specimens (N = 19; 27.1 %) were captured in forest. (MAP-UNEP),Tunis. 68 pp. but the majority (N = 41; 58.6%) were found in cocoa groves. In ---, ~ND- . 1997. Assessment of sea turtle nesting activity in Libya, Mar. Turtle Newsl. 76:2-6. southeastern Bahia, cocoa is traditionally cultivated under the shade MARGARITOUI~IS,D. 1983. The inter-nesting interval of Zakynthos logger- of the forest in a system locally called "cabruca." This fact and the heads. In N. S. Margaris, M. Arianoutsou-Faraggitaki, and R. J. Reiter presence ofAtlantic forest remnants between the plantations allows (eds.), Adaptations to Terrestrial Environments. pp. 35-144. Plenum the occurrence of a typical forest snake fauna (Arg6lo 2001). Press. New York. The majority of the 70 individuals of L. m. rhombeata collected PETERS,A., AND K. J. F. VERHU~VEN.1992. Breeding success of the logger- were found coiled on the ground, either exposed or under head, Carenu caretta, and the green turtle, Chelonia rnydm, in the G6ksu herbaceous vegetation. From 26 collections for which I have data Delta, Turkey. Rapport 310. Department of Animal Ecology, Univer- on activity and behavior, 19 specimens were found between 0700 sity of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 26 pp. Unpubl. h and 1530 h, coiled on the ground and apparently asleep. Only 3 VENIZELOS,L. 1996. Mediterranean loggerheads are thriving in Libya! Mar. Turtle Newsl. 72:2. of these specimens displayed defensive reactions when approached by the collector. One adult (CZGB 303 1) struck the rural worker's YERLI,S. V., AND F. DEMIRAYMI.1996. Marine turtles in Turkey: A survey on nesting site status. DHKD. CMS Report No: 9614, Istanbul. 133 pp. machete when he approached the snake without having seen it. inside a cocoa grove. In the same environment, a young specimen (CZGB 1741). after being disturbed, struck the collector. A third specimen (CZGB 743 1) coiled in defensive posture and vibrated the tail for a short time before being killed by the collector. These Lachesis muta rhombeata Wied, 1825 are the only reports of defensive reactions during the captures where circumstances were precisely determined. On the other hand, (Serpentes, Viperidae): Defensive Behavior and among several specimens collected under vegetation during Snakebite Risk cleaning of cocoa groves, one individual was almost stepped on by a rural worker, whereas two others (CZGB 3026, 5599) were stepped on without displaying any reaction. One specimen (CZGB 33 16), after being discovered, remained coiled and immobile for five hours while workers removed the vegetation in the vicinity waiting for a collector. None of the five specimens found active Bushmasters (genus Lachesis) are remarkable for their large size (from 1600 to 0600 h) displayed any defensive reactions. One of (2 2.0 m total length), venom capacity, and reputation for these (CZGB 3971) was killed at 0100 h inside a house in the aggressiveness. which makes them one of the most feared snakes field, after having crawled on the body of the sleeping collector. of the New World (Campbell and Lamar 1989; Greene 1997; Hardy Another specimen, now in captivity at CEPLAC (number B- 105), and Silva Haad 1998). Their restricted habitat makes the collection was captured at 2000 h when crossing a road in the vicinity of a of specimens difficult (but see exception in Taylor et al. 1974) and forest in Ilhkus. The collector erroneously identified it as the locally limits studies on the basic aspects of their biology (but see Boyer common Boa constrictor and, relying on illumination only from et al. 1989; Boyer ct al. 1995; Chiszar et al. 1989; Melgarejo and his car's headlights, attempted to capture it by pulling it by its tail. Cunha 1991; Ripa 1994, for data on reproduction, captive I collected two specimens (B227. B232) from armadillo caves maintenance and behavior). Another difficulty in collecting inside a forest on the California farm (Ituberi: 13'46'S, 39'1 2W). specimens for serum production is that many potential collectors The resident armadillos were not observed, but they likely were fear these snakes. Encounters with bushmasters in their natural D~S'/PUSnovemcinctus. These caves have one or more inclined habitats are rare. and much popular lore stems from a distorted entrances ca. 20 cm in diameter each. The ceilings in these caves view of the rural workers who invariably are frightened in these are dome shaped, smooth, and approximate the size of the armadillo situations. The lack of careful observations leaves unclear the (Emmons, 1999; pers. obs.). As I searched the caves with a flexible effective risk of snakebites from bushmasters. Indeed, in Brazil, stick, the snakes arose immediately through the opening. One of for example, it is said that the low number of accidents caused by these stopped after flash photography and returned to the interior this species is probably due to the fact that it is confined to the of the cave. The second specimen, also stimulated to exit the cave, forests, where human presence is less frequent. In this paper, I was found shedding its skin. lt coiled near the entrance to the cave present data on the capture of one of the most threatened and lesser and I was able to capture it by hook and a tail hold. None of these

210 Herpetological Review 34(3),2003