Assessment of the nesting population demography of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in La Roche Percée: first long-term monitoring in New Caledonia.

Population monitoring is essential to assess, manage and protect
threatened species. Although the South Pacific loggerhead turtle
subpopulation is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN,
monitoring data are scarce. This study reports the results of the first
long-term monitoring of the nesting population of loggerhead turtles held
by Bwärä Tortues Marines on La Roche Percée beach, New Caledonia. From
2006 to 2020, Capture Mark Recapture was used to identify nesting
individuals. Time and nesting success were recorded on site. A total of
452 different females were observed and tagged over 14 years. The number
of different nesting individuals observed each year showed a significant
increase along the timeframe of the study. A remigration interval of 3.34
years was observed and the overall nesting success was 59.02%. This study
also reports the inter-nesting intervals, monthly and hourly variabilities
in the visits at the nesting site. The conservation actions led by Bwärä
Tortues Marines seem to be correlated with a higher nesting success. This
study provides encouraging results and highlights the need to pursue the
monitoring and conservation actions implemented by Bwärä Tortues Marines.
Further management recommendations are also provided.