We captured 170 animals with CCL ranging from
29.5 to 77.5 cm (mean ± SD: 42.8 ± 7.3 cm). Based on
this length interval, all animals captured were considered
post-pelagic juveniles (Torezani et al. 2010).
Of 155 turtles visually examined, 133 (85.8%) wereclassed as being in good BC, 16 (10.3%) in average
BC, and 6 (3.9%) in poor BC. Fifteen turtles had to be
released before physical evaluation to avoid long
handling time and excessive stress. Turtles in poor
BC had lower BCI values than turtles with average
BC, which in turn had lower BCI than the turtles in
good BC. Therefore, the visual evaluation of BC was
consistent with the calculated BCI (Table 1).