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Loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta may now be the only species of marine turtle nesting on the island of Maio, Cape Verde Islands. Threats to loggerhead turtles include hunting of females on land and males and females in the water, poaching of nests and, increasingly, light pollution and other disturbances related to tourism development. Length and remoteness of the beaches on Maio lead to limited monitoring and data collection. Although it is believed that Maio has one of the largest nesting populations of loggerheads in the Cape Verde Islands, very little information exists regarding the nesting beaches and the population of nesting females. During July 2009, a four day survey of the island was carried out in order to obtain insight as to the status of nesting loggerheads on Maio. The census showed that compared to the island of Sal the number of turtles nesting on Maio was higher at 19.64% more nests and 39.9% more tracks during the same period. It is recommended that in order to determine the true size of the Maio nesting population a full census should be undertaken over several seasons.