| On February 10th 1999 local resident Terry Ward picked up a Turtle
on Porthloo beach, St Mary’s and handed it to the Isles of Scilly Environmental
Trust. It was identified as a Loggerhead utilising the scant literature
at hand, and was then set aside for disposal as the local museum already
had a specimen. Two days later Martin Scott took possession of the specimen
to try and find it a new home rather than the dump! It was at this stage
that the first queries were raised as to its identity, but reference material
was hard to come by. A photograph in Lee Evans Rare Birds magazine (Vol.
3:268-269) hinted at Kemp’s Ridley, but further research was obviously
needed.
The shell (carapace) shape suggested Kemp’s Ridley, but as the species
is a gross rarity – only nine records in the south west, with none in Britain
since 1969 – it seemed even less likely. It was also an immature, which
further complicated the identification process. Details were sought by
MSS and Ren Hathway, who was now in possession of the body. Upon contacting
the Natural History Museum, and receipt of R.D. Penhallurick’s excellent
"Turtles of Cornwall, The Isles of Scilly and Devonshire", the identity
was confirmed as Kemp’s Ridley. The subtle pointers being more oval, rather
than heart shaped shell, different spinal plate pattern, larger inframandibular
scales to the lower jaw of Kemp’s Ridley, pattern of the forehead plates
and poreholes on the inframarginal scutes on the underside. The original
identification was also led astray by the comment that Loggerhead shows
a ‘knobbled’ spine. This specimen showed slight lumps, but when references
were obtained it was clear they were dissimilar to the almost ‘Stegasaurus
– type’ protrusion of young Loggerhead.
Kemp’s Ridley is grossly endangered, as are all turtles, breeding only
known from the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Texas and Grand Cayman. The
latter two as a result of successful reintroduction projects. Numbers have
reportedly picked up slightly in recent years following a devastating decline
to a few hundred pairs in 1975 (Penhallurick 1990). As far as we are aware
there are no British records in the last 32 years. All known south west
records are listed:
1. 1913: Nov. 11th, Malpass, Cornwall
2. 1925: Date unknown, Isles of Scilly
3. 1938: Dec. 30th, Portreath, Cornwall
4. 1930’s: Specimen in St. Ives Museum, Cornwall
5. 1943: Jan. 3rd, Polzeath, Cornwall
6. 1947: Nov. 10th, Newlyn, Cornwall
7. 1949: Dec. 17th, Treyarnon Bay, Cornwall
8. 1967: Nov. 26th, Woolacombe Sand, Morte Bay, Devon
9. 1969: Feb. 5th, Perranporth, Cornwall
A rubber cast has been taken of the specimen, and it has now been sent
to the British Museum of Natural History, London, where it will be preserved
in the spirit collection.
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