Sea Turtles in Montenegrin Adriatic Coastal Waters

Abstract

This study includes a review of recently published records, as well as new field records of sea turtles along the Montenegrin coast, up until 2020. There are 77 records of three different sea turtle species in Montenegrin waters in total. Most of them were sightings of the loggerhead turtle (59 records). There were two cases of sightings of the green turtle, while two incidences of the leatherback turtle were also recorded. For 14 individuals there was no information about species, but most probably all of them were loggerhead turtles. Collisions with boats, as well as fishing nets were found to be major threat to sea turtles in Montenegrin waters. Five turtles were found in different fishing net, alive and unhurt, while two individuals were found dead because of fishing activities. Four turtles died because of collisions with boats, while three were hurt in collisions with boats, but survived. One turtle was killed by spearing with a speargun by a local man in Stoliv.