THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE ( ERETMOCHELYS IMBRICATA) IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST AND OTHER NEW SEA TURTLE RECORDS

Between 2018 and 2023, four new records of sea turtles (Dermochelyidae, Cheloniidae) belonging to three species ( Dermochelys coriacea, Chelonia mydas and Eretmochelys imbricata) were recorded in Russian Far Eastern waters. The Hawksbill Turtle (E. imbricata) is reported from Russia for the first time. This adult female was caught by fishermen in the strait between Kunashir and Shikotan islands. An adult specimen of D. coriacea was captured in nets in the Kunashir Strait of the Sea of Okhotsk near the village of Tretyakovo. Several skeleton fragments of Ch. mydas were found near the Alyokhin Cape of Kunashir Island. The Green Turtle, Ch. mydas, is recorded from the Kuril Islands for the first time, very likely that specimen belongs to the Pacific subspecies, the Black Turtle ( Ch. m. agassizii). Another species of sea turtle, the Olive Ridley ( Lepidochelys olivacea), is also likely to occur in the southern part of the Far Eastern sea area. The Leatherback Turtle, D. coriacea, is the only species regularly entering Russia's waters and has been recorded at least two dozen times in the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Bering Sea, and in the Pacific waters of the Russian economic zone near the southern Kuril Islands. Two other species, the Loggerhead, Caretta caretta, and the Green Turtle, Ch. mydas, have been recorded only a few times. The actual number of sea turtles entering Russia's waters is higher than the number given in official sources. A tendency for sea turtle records to increase in the temperate and subarctic zones seems to be associated with increased fishing in the region. Bycatch study in temperate and subarctic zones may provide new information on the distribution and biology of sea turtles in the north and also allow for methods for reducing accidental turtle mortality to be developed.