The effects of nesting ground temperatures on incubation and hatchability of loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea Coast, Libya
Sea turtles are migratory and geographically dispersed animals. Six of the seven marine turtle species worldwide have been identified as threatened with extinction (IUCN, 2018) The loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta is widely distributed in the tropical and temperate regions (Kamezaki et al. 2003 and Limpus and Limpus, 2003) C. caretta faces different threats during its life cycle, such as loss or alterations of nesting grounds, predation, ingestion of marine debris, environmental contamination, diseases, and interactions with various fisheries activities (Witherington, 2003) The Mediterranean is frequented by large numbers of loggerhead turtles (Carreras et al. 2011; Haddoud and Gomati, 2011 and Clusa et al. 2014) Libya has more than 1000 km of sandy coastline that are suitable for loggerhead turtle nesting (Haddoud and ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received: July 2, 2020 Accepted: July 17, 2020 Online: July 20, 2020 _______________