Five sea turtle species, including green turtles (Chelonia mydas), olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) have been reported from the Pakistan Coast (Ghalib and Zaidi 1976; Groombridge 1982, 1987a, 1987b; 1989; Firdous 1986, 1988; Kabraji and Firdous 1984; Groombridge et al. 1988; Khan et al. 2005; Khan and Ghalib 2006b; Iffat 2009). Hawkesbay and Sandspit, a complex of two adjacent beaches, are among the most important nesting areas of the Indian subcontinent (Seminoff 2002). Each year from 1981 to 1983, nearly 6000 green turtles and 200 olive ridley turtles nested on the beaches of Hawkesbay and Sandspit (Kabraji and Firdous 1984), and from October 1979 to December 1997, nearly 1.5 million eggs from 17,702 nests were transplanted to enclosures to offset predation under the Sindh Wildlife Management Board project. This transplanting included 1.4 million eggs from green turtles and 78,014 eggs from olive ridley turtles (Asrar 1999).

Throughout the Indian subcontinent, sea turtle populations have been affected by human exploitation for many decades (Groombridge and Luxmoore 1989). Coupled with exploitation of sea turtle meat for human consumption and fisheries-based bycatch mortality, the thorough and systematic exploitation of eggs in many parts of Southeast Asia has led to the decline of sea turtle populations throughout the region (Pilcher 1999). Nesting populations in Pakistan have also been subjected to degradation of nesting habitats, marine pollution, and lack of management (Hussain 2009).

Sea turtles in Pakistan are protected, either directly or indirectly, through a series of legal and regulatory provisions. All species have been declared legally protected under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance (1972), the Balochistan Wildlife Protection Act (1974), and the Sindh Wildlife Protection Act (1993). Also, Clause 5 (Export Restriction) in the Pakistan Fish Inspection and Quality Act of 1997 sponsored by Pakistan's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock forbids the export and domestic consumption of aquatic turtles. However, although sea turtles are legally protected, their nesting sites do not have any ‘protected area’ status (Khan et al. 2005).

Despite the legal protection of sea turtles in Pakistan, few contemporary data are available on nesting distribution and abundance. Kabraji and Firdous (1984) suggested that the Balochistan Coast hosted significant populations of marine turtles. However, due to inaccessibility to the vast majority of beach sites, no field surveys were undertaken. Similarly, Groombridge (1988) reported that 95% of the Balochistan Coast—a stretch extending more than 640 km—appeared adequate for nesting activity but was largely inaccessible, thus preventing investigation of specific nesting sites. Today, much of the Balochistan coastline is accessible due to the construction of a coastal highway, thus providing an opportunity to expand upon earlier survey efforts.

The present study is the first effort in more than 2 decades to record the nesting distribution and current status of marine turtles in Pakistan (Figs. 1, 2). The results will be helpful in developing a conservation plan by numerous stakeholders, including the provincial governments of Pakistan, the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife, and national and international nongovernmental organizations such as World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Our findings will also create public awareness regarding the importance of conserving the marine turtles and their habitats.

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Methods

This study was carried out along the Balochistan and Sindh Coasts (Figs. 1 and 2, respectively). Along the Karachi Coast, there are 2 primary beaches: Sandspit and Hawkesbay. Both beaches are 5 km in length, with sand dunes starting at the high-water mark. The beach slopes at Sandspit and Hawkesbay are from 40° to 60° and 20° to 40°, respectively, from the high-water mark to the subtidal zone (Hussain 2009). The beaches are separated by a small rocky outcrop, known as Kakapir, within the intertidal area. The rocky ledges gently slope and extend to the neap low-water mark. There are sabellarian reefs along the edges of the rocky ledge near the neap low-water zone.

Surveys occurred from September 2004 through December 2007, with efforts occurring primarily during the peak of the nesting season (July to November). A 5-person team conducted nocturnal surveys along a 50-km stretch of the Karachi Coast nesting beach. Thus, fortnightly surveys (i.e., every 15 days) were conducted, during which all the tracks encountered over the beach were counted, and the number of turtles from all beach sections pooled to arrive at the total nesting activity for each month. Each person was posted at an interval of 1 km to count the emerging turtles during surveys. In addition, we conducted early morning beach surveys by foot or in a vehicle, searching for crawls to further quantify nesting activity.

Selected localities along the Balochistan Coast were surveyed in January 2006. Five nights were spent at each site, and nesting activity was characterized through track counts, counts of nest pits, counts of nesting turtles, and interviews with local residents. Turtles and turtle tracks were identified according to Minton (1966) and Pritchard et al. (1983).

Results and Discussion

The results of our surveys are summarized in Table 1. Along the Karachi Coast, a new green turtle nesting site was discovered near Mubarak Village, an area of difficult access approximately 25 km from Hawkesbay (Fig. 1). Nocturnal surveys and interviews suggest that 20–50 nests are deposited nightly during the peak of the season. Along the Balochistan Coast, we visited 9 nesting sites, 5 of which had been previously reported by Groombridge (1987a, 1987b). Those not described by Groombridge (1987a, 1987b) include Gwadar (West Bay), Pishukan, Ganz, Sonmiani, and Hingol National Park (Fig. 2).

Table 1 Summary of results of surveys on nesting sites along Sindh and Balochistan Coasts of Pakistan.

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Green turtles were the most commonly reported species. From September 2004 to December 2007, 5964 green turtles were recorded at Sandspit/Hawkesbay (Table 2). We documented hawksbill tracks at Cape Monze (Mubarak Village) and also received reports of hawksbill at Astola Island, which is consistent with descriptions by Khursheed et al. (1995). Leatherback nesting was reported at Mubarak Village, Pishukan, and Jiwani. Since 2003, there have been no reports of olive ridley nesting in Pakistan, perhaps due to a major oil spill that occurred in the region (Hussain 2009).

Table 2 Counts of green turtle females encountered during surveys at nesting beaches on the Karachi Coast of Pakistan.

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As per our observations and interviews with local fishermen, it is interesting to note that the turtle population along the Sindh Coast (about 250 km) is restricted to only about 50 km along the western coastline. Turtles are rarely seen along the remaining 200 km of the coastline facing mouth of River Indus, which has mostly muddy substrate.

Declines in Pakistani sea turtle populations have been attributed to a number of factors including habitat alteration, loss of nesting and foraging areas, marine pollution, and commercial harvesting (Khan and Ghalib 2006b). Habitat loss and beachfront lighting are of particular concern and have been implicated as 2 of the most dire threats throughout South Asia (Bhupathy and Saravanan 2002; Islam 2002). Incidental bycatch in fisheries is also a major cause of mortality throughout the Indian Ocean and has been reported from the Near East (Ross and Barwani 1982), Pakistan (Asrar 1999), both coasts of India (Rajagopalan et al. 1996; Pandav 2000), and elsewhere. The increase in artisanal fishing effort throughout Pakistan and other coastal areas of the Indian Ocean is definitely a cause for concern in the future. However, the primary culprit as reported in other areas—shrimp trawling—is not a major problem along Balochistan Coast due to a total ban on trawling along roughly 800 km of Balochistan coastline. This is supported by fact that bycatch studies in Pakistan have never reported marine turtles as bycatch shrimp trawls, a finding that may be due to the fact that shrimp trawl nets used in Pakistan have small openings, are hauled manually, and their deployments have very short tow durations. Not surprisingly, turtle excluder devices are not commonly used in Pakistani shrimp trawlers despite a legal mandate.

Two additional threats, although reported as serious issues in Pakistan, are perhaps less threatening to sea turtle populations than once believed. These include marine pollution and direct harvest of turtles and eggs. With respect to pollution, although it may be major problem near the coastal city of Karachi, the confined ocean circulation patterns near this coastal metropolis prevent widespread impacts from this point-source of environmental contamination. Regarding direct harvest of sea turtles, small-scale commercial harvest occurred along Karachi Coast in early 1970s but has since been totally stopped (Khan and Ghalib 2006b). Likewise, there is no significant egg harvesting in Pakistan.

Scientific research has been relatively advanced in India, Malaysia, and Thailand, while many countries (including Pakistan) have surveys and monitoring programs, although these are often not conducted at sufficient intervals to provide accurate population trends throughout all nesting points. Although Ormara, Astola and Jiwani turtle beaches have been declared as Ramsar Sites since 2001, scientific management of these sites required under a management plan is still insufficient (Khan and Ghalib 2006a), a problem that is compounded by the lack of awareness about the threats to marine turtles and their habitats.