Page 291 - French Polynesia

Post-Hatchling Stage/Juveniles

First, here is lesser exposure to the intense and second, the long interval between breeding of little fishes, crustaceans, worms, molluscs,
heat of day which can easily be fatal to them. seasons. The effective fecundity is measured by tunicates and coelenterates that seemed suitable

There exists a direct pressure for the develop- the average annual production of hatchlings in forage for little turtles. Besides that advantage

ment of a thermal inhibition of activity. Second, the open water dispersal phase per adult female and the concealment the rafts offered, there was

this provides better protection from terrestrial in the total population. For a species to survive, the fundamentally important tendency of the

and airborne predators. Furthermore, even when a consequence of such low fecundity and such mats to be aligned off high-energy beaches and

daytime temperatures are not high enough to kill high longevity to sexual maturity would have to thus to enhance the probability that the seaward

the hatchlings, but only to slow them down, the be a very high annual survivorship of the turtles course of little turtles leaving a nesting shore

longer time in reaching the sea gives predators a in all posthatchling life history phases and/or a would intercept them (Carr, 1986). Seaweed drifts

better chance of making a catch. Upon enter- very long reproductive life (Limpus, 1994). may act as fish nurseries providing food and

ing the sea, hatchlings swim below the surface, Once they have passed through the surf, shelter. Floating logs, coconuts, and other jetsam
called swimming frenzy, making little attempt to they would not be seen again in the waters may attract small turtles where floating weed is
dive deeply. Green and loggerhead hatchlings absent (Carr, 1987).

are capable of swimming 20-70 km in two days of the continental shelf until they reached sizes Post-hatchling turtles are rarely observed in
unassisted by currents. Such distances are greater between those of a saucer and a dinner plate. coastal habitats and in most cases are as-
than would be necessary to escape immediate lit- This is called the “lost years” of the turtle’s life. The

toral and sub-littoral predators and may in some smallest turtles normally encountered in coastal sumed to disperse to the open sea. Encounters

places be sufficient to reach offshore current habitats are now thought to be considerably are too infrequent. Walker (1994) stated that

systems (Hughes, 1974 in Walker, 1994). older than one year ( Walker , 1994). small chelonids have the ability and desire to

The large number of eggs laid in a single Sargassum rafts have been observed to be move from a pelagic to a benthic habit but until
season is offset by two factors: first, the high the lost year refuge for green turtles and then, their location at sea will be at least partially
dependent on currents and ocean drift. Depar-

egg and hatchling mortality on the beach and in loggerheads. These brown algal mats harbor a ture from a pelagic habitat is probably opportun-

the waters immediately adjacent to the rookery diverse, specialized fauna, including many kinds istic and not necessarily linked to turtle size.