Abstract:
Göksu Delta is one of the important nesting beaches for Caretta caretta (loggerhead turtle) in the Eastern
Mediterranean coast of Turkey. In this study, temperatures of nests (n=10) and sand (n=4) were recorded by data loggers and results were examined to determine sex ratio of loggerhead hatchlings. Mean nest temperatures of whole period was 31.1°C that is higher than pivotal temperature of 29°C for Mediterranean loggerhead clutches, mean incubation duration was 51.7 days. The sex ratio of hatchlings of loggerhead turtle on Göksu Delta was estimated at 89.7% female based on temperature of whole period of incubation in nesting season of 2013. Results of estimation show that hatchlings sex ratio is highly female biased at study site.