Bermuda

The earliest known legislation protecting marine turtles was passed by the First Bermuda Assembly in 1620 and prohibited the taking of all turtles less than 18 inches diameter in any body of water within five leagues distance from shore. In 1937 a prohibition went into effect protecting turtles under 20 lbs; and in 1947 the Board of Trade (Fisheries) regulations enforced a restriction on the take of turtles in the month of June in any year. In 1963 the size limit was increased to 40 lbs, and in 1972 a Fisheries Act was implemented that completely stopped the take of all turtles for a five year period. This moratorium was never lifted, but replaced with the Fisheries Protected Species order of 1978. In 2003 all sea turtles in Bermuda’s territorial waters were listed under the Protected Species Act as Critically Endangered or Endangered as per IUCN (The World Conservation Union) criteria. This act considers the willful destruction, damage, removal or obstruction of a habitat, and the taking, importing, exporting, selling, purchasing, transporting or having in possession a sea turtle, or any part thereof, as an offence.

Frick, J., 1976. Orientation and Behaviour of Hatchling Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the sea, Anita. Behav., 1976, 24, 849-857

Godley, B. J., A. C. Broderick, L. M. Campbell, S. Ranger, and P. B. Richardson. 2004. 5. An assessment of the status and exploitation of marine turtles in Bermuda. In: An assessment of the status and exploitation of marine turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Wider Caribbean. pp 78-95. Final Project Report for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Commonwealth Office.

Godley BJ, Broderick AC, Campbell LM, Ranger S, Richardson PB (2004) 10. Towards a Molecular Profile of Marine Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories. In: An Assessment of the Status and Exploitation of Marine Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories in the Wider Caribbean. pp 223-236. Final Project Report for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mowbray et al, 1958. First Record of the Ridley Turtle from Bermuda, with Notes on Other Sea Turtles and the Turtle Fishery in the Islands. Source: Copeia, Vol. 1958, No. 2, (Jun. 18, 1958), pp. 147-148. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Returns of Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas Linnaeus) Tagged at Bermuda, Biological Conservation, Vol. 6, No. 4, October 1974

1992. A. B. Meylan, P. Meylan, H.C. Frick, and J.N. Burnett-Herkes. Abstract. Population structure of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) on foraging grounds in Bermuda. In: M. Salmon and J. Wyneken (compilers), Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Workshop on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 73. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-302.

1994 A. Meylan, P. Meylan, and A. Mosier. Abstract. Green turtles in developmental habitat: An update on the Bermuda Turtle Project. In: B. Schroeder and B. Witherington (editors), Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 254. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-341.

1998 P. A. Meylan & A. B. Meylan. Abstract. Corroboration of the developmental habitat hypothesis for marine turtles. In: S. Epperly and J. Braun (editors), Proceedings of the 17th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, p. 68. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-415.

1998 J. Gray, W. H. Mitchell, J. A. Ward, H. C. Frick II, P.A. Meylan, and A.B. Meylan. Abstract. The Bermuda Turtle Project: Studies of immature green turtles at an oceanic feeding ground, 1968-1997. In: S. Epperly and J. Braun (editors), Proceedings of the 17th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, p. 59. NOAA Tech. Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-415.

1998. A. B. Meylan, P. A. Meylan and J. Gray. Density and biomass of green turtles in developmental habitat in Bermuda. Abstract. In: S. Epperly and J. Braun (editors), Proceedings of the 17th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, p. 68. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-415.

1998. T. N. Engstrom, W. G. Bradley, J. A. Gray, A. B. Meylan, P. A. Meylan and W. B. Roess. Genetic identity of green turtles in Bermuda waters. Abstract. In: S. Epperly and J. Braun (editors), Proceedings of the 17th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, p. 50. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-415.

2000 S. Denison, P. Meylan, and W. Roess. mtDNA haplotype determination by students in genetics laboratory course elucidates sea turtle ecological geography. Abstract. Suppl. to Molecular Biology of the Cell 11:25a.

2000 A. Meylan P. Meylan, and J. Gray-Conklin. Departure of marine turtles from developmental habitats:evidence from Bermuda and Panama. Abstract. In: Kalbb, H. J., Wibbels, T. S. (editors), Proceedings of the 19th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, p. 68. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFC-415. BAMZ #928

2002 M. Vierros, A. Meylan, P. Meylan, J. Gray and J. Ward. Evaluation of green turtle habitat, population size and distribution using remote sensing and GIS techniques. In: A. Mosier, A. Foley and B. Brost (compilers), Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 52-54. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-477. BAMZ “940. BBP “031

2002 L. K. Estep, A. B. Meylan, P. A. Meylan and J. Gray. Surfacing and submergence behavior of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Abstract. In: A. Mosier, A. Foley and B. Brost (compilers), Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p.34. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-477.

2003 P. A. Meylan, A. Meylan, J. Gray and J. Ward. The hawksbill turtle in Bermuda. Abstract. p. 26 In: J. Seminoff (Compiler), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 26. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-503.

2004 P. Meylan, A. Meylan, and J. Gray. The Bermuda turtle project’s international course on the biology and conservation of sea turtles, 2003. Marine Turtle Newsletter 103:14-15.

2006 J. Gray, A. Meylan, and B. Outerbridge. Two decades of stranding data from Bermuda, an island in the Sargasso Sea. Abstract. In: M. Frick, A. Panagopoulou, A. Rees and K. Williams (compilers), Book of Abstracts. 26th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, International Sea Turtle Society, Athens Greece, 374 pp.
2006 Bacon, J. P., Gray, J. A. & Kitson, L. Status and conservation of the reptiles and amphibians of the Bermuda islands: Applied Herpetology 3:323–344. BBB#110

2007 T. Murdoch, A.Glasspool, M. Outerbridge, J. Ward, S. Manuel, J. Gray, A. Nash, K. Coates, J. Pitt, J. Fourqurean, P. Barnes, M. Vierros, K. Holzer, S. Smith. Large-scale decline in offshore seagrass meadows in Bermuda. In. Marine Ecology Progress Series Vol. 339:123-130

2010 A. Meylan, P. Meylan, J. Gray, B. Brost, P. Kubilis, G. Blanvillain, and D. Owens. Changes in sex ratios of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at a mid-ocean developmental foraging site (1990 – 2007). Abstract. In K. Dama and M. Lopez-Castro (compilers), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 135. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA NMFS-SEFSC-602.

2011 P. Meylan, A. Meylan and J. Gray. 2011. The ecology and migrations of sea turtles. 8. Tests of the developmental habitat hypothesis. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 357, pp. 1-70.

2012 B. Shamblin, B. Berry, D. Lennon, A. Meylan, P. Meylan, M. Outerbridge and C. Nairn, Tetranucleotide microsatellite loci from the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Conservation Genetics Resources 5:23-26.

2014 A. Meylan, A. Arenas, J. Zurita, E. Harrison, J. Gray, and P. A. Meylan. Green turtles tagged in developmental habitat in Bermuda nest in Mexico and Costa Rica. Marine Turtle Newsletter 141:15-17.

2014 Ministry of Health Seniors and Environment. Department of Conservation Services Management Plan for Bermuda’s Resident Green and Hawksbill Sea Turtles

2015 C. D. Allen, M. N. Robbins, T. Eguchi, D. W. Owens, A. B. Meylan, P. A. Meylan, N. M. Kellar, J. A. Schwenter, H. H. Nollens, R. A. LeRoux, P. H. Dutton, and J. A. Seminoff. First assessment of the sex ratio for an East Pacific green sea turtle foraging aggregation: Validation and application of a testosterone ELISA. PLoS ONE 10(10):30138861

2015 IAC Sargasso Sea Concept Note: CIT-SSC-2015.Concept Note on the importance of Sargassum and the Sargasso Sea for Atlantic Sea Turtles. CIT-CCE7-2014-Tec.9 – SSC/2014/1/Doc. 2. (This publication is available electronically at: www.iacseaturtle.org)

2016 Bjorndal, K. A., M. Chaloupka, V. S. Saba, C. E. Diez, R. P. van Dam, B. H. Krueger, J. A. Horrocks, A. J. B. Santos, C. Bellini, M. A. G. Marcovaldi, M. Nava, S. Willis, B. J. Godley, S. Gore, L. A. Hawkes, A. McGowan, M. J. Witt, T. B. Stringell, A. Sanghera, P. B. Richardson, A. C. Broderick, Q. Phillips, M. C. Calosso, J. A. B. Claydon, J. Blumenthal, F. Moncada, G. Nodarse, Y. Medina, S. G. Dunbar, L. D. Wood, C. J. Lagueux, C. L. Campbell, A. B. Meylan, P. A. Meylan, V. R. Burns Perez, R. A. Coleman, S. Strindberg, V. Guzmán-H., K. M. Hart, M. S. Cherkiss, Z. Hillis-Starr, I. F. Lundgren, R. H. Boulon Jr., S. Connett, M. E. Outerbridge, and A. B. Bolten. 2016. Somatic growth dynamics of West Atlantic hawksbill sea turtles: a spatio-temporal perspective. Ecosphere 7(5): e01279.

The Bermuda Turtle Project