Reports of Marine Turtles from New England and Eastern Canada

Abstract

Marine turtles are considered to be tropical or subtropical and their occurrence in northern waters is typically dismissed as accidental. The standard reference books of Carr (1952), Conant (1958), and the more recent Introduction to Herpetology by Goin and Goin (1962) leave one with the impression of tropical marine turtles being just that. However, recent personal observations and a search of the literature revealed 112 documented coastal records of marine turtles from Newfoundland to Connecticut (Table 1) with an indication of a seasonal, occurrence. A reappraisal of the status of these turtles in the cold waters of Eastern Canada and New England is presented here.