A lecture by a leading sea turtle conservationist is set to go ahead at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo this evening.

The free lecture is being presented by Dr. Anne Meylan and it will take place at 7 p.m. in the Aquarium Hall.

The lecture ? ?Sea Turtles of Bermuda? ? will cover Dr. Meylan?s extensive research on these intriguing creatures that live in our waters.

Bermuda has ideal feeding grounds for juvenile turtles giving scientists and resource managers a unique opportunity to study the little-understood juvenile stage of the green turtle.

Dr. Meylan is a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and is a member of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation?s (CCC) Scientific Advisory Committee.

She is in Bermuda this month as part of the Bermuda Turtle Project?s field sampling session ? an annual in-water conservation course. The intense course is dedicated to improving the survival status of sea turtles through training of individuals throughout the Caribbean who are involved in the study and management of sea turtles.

?Five of the world?s seven sea turtle species occur in Bermuda waters and those that are resident are all juveniles,? said Dr. Meylan.

?Bermuda seems to be a sea turtle nursery for the Caribbean region.?

More than 2,000 immature green turtles have been captured on seagrass flats and tagged in Bermuda since the Bermuda Turtle Project began in 1968.

Green turtles found locally range in size from approximately 25 to 75 centimetres in shell length, with no recent record of adult turtles. Long-distance tag returns and satellite tracking results indicate they travel south to feeding grounds in the Caribbean Sea.

Bermuda Turtle Project co-ordinator Jennifer Gray said: ?We are very excited that Dr. Meylan is able to share her knowledge of sea turtles with our community.

?We hope all of Bermuda is aware of these wonderful creatures that live in our natural environment.?