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

Abstract

Abstract Population monitoring is essential to assess, manage, and protect threatened species. Although the South Pacific loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) subpopulation is classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), monitoring data are scarce. This study reports the results of the first long‐term monitoring of the nesting population of loggerhead turtle 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 over the time frame 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 internesting intervals and monthly and hourly variabilities in visits to the nesting site. The conservation actions led by Bwärä Tortues Marines appear 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.