ML102380277

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary for August 2008

ML102380277
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/11/2008
From:	Bresette M Florida Power & Light Co, Quantum Resources
To:	Koperski M Florida Power & Light Co, US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML102380277 (9)

Text

Balsam, Briana From: Michael_Bresette@fpl.com Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 11:41 AM To: Meghan.Koperski@MyFWC.com; Logan, Dennis; Ed_Hollowell@fpl.com; Shelley.Norton@noaa.gov; Vince_Munne@fpl.com; Winifred.Perkins@fpl.com; Bob.Hoffman@noaa.gov; Stacy.Foster@fpl.com; David_Niebch@fpl.com; Jodie.Gless@fpl.com

Subject:

August sea turtle captures Attachments: St. Lucie caps 2008.xls; August08rep.rtf; Notes08.xls ADAMSAccessionNumber:ML082950563 Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469

Subject:

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary August 2008

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for August 2008. In August, we captured thirty three (33) Caretta caretta and thirteen (13)

Chelonia mydas at the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on South Hutchinson Island. During August, a juvenile green turtle was recovered dead from under the west side of the primary barrier net where it apparently drowned. This mortality was considered causal to power plant operation and will go against the take limit established in the latest Biological Opinion. The primary barrier net failed on August 20th during tropical storm Faye due to excessive buildup of algae. The juvenile green turtle that was found by divers had apparently gone over the top of the barrier net when it failed and was trapped under the west side of the net as it was loaded with algae. Within a week the net was restored and final adjustments were being completed at the time of this report. When the barrier net was raised it trapped several turtles between the AIA net and the primary barrier net. Directed capture efforts were conducted to remove these turtles as soon as possible. To date, seven turtles have been hand captured between the two barrier nets. There are still two loggerheads and a green turtle between the two nets, but we are confident we will have those turtles removed within the week. Since the barrier net failed, we have increased monitoring effort west of the A1A barrier net to determine if turtles moved further down the canal during tropical storm Faye. We will continue to monitor west of the A1A net to the security net twice a day until we're confident no turtles are in that area of the canal. Additionally, increased monitoring of the intake well area of the canal is conducted twice a day by personnel using a boat and dipnets. This will also continue until we're confident no turtles are in the intake well 1

area.

On August 31, a lethargic and underweight loggerhead was found at the top of the primary barrier net and was transported to SeaWorld for rehabilitation after consultation with personnel from FWCC. All other turtles were released on the same day of capture. Tag numbers and morphmetric data for all turtles are attached. Also, attached is a spreadsheet of all captures, mortalities, injuries and causal events delineated by species and month for 2008. This spreadsheet tracks fresh scrapes and will be helpful in determining the success of the intake pipe cleaning project. If you have any questions or comments about the enclosed data please contact me at your convenience.

Sincerely, Michael J. Bresette Sr. Environmental Specialist Quantum Resources, Inc.

(See attached file: St. Lucie caps 2008.xls)(See attached file: August08rep.rtf)(See attached file:

Notes08.xls) 2

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL AUGUST 2008 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/3/2008 Caretta caretta YYR222/YYR223 60.1 60.6 65.9 65.2 51.3 46.4 30.5 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Chelonia mydas 1 YYB268 57.6 58.0 63.2 56.7 45.1 47.7 26.2 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Caretta caretta 2 YYB282/YYB283 70.2 71.3 76.8 72.0 56.7 52.9 47.4 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Chelonia mydas 3 YYB418 49.8 50.1 53.6 49.9 42.1 42.5 19.3 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Caretta caretta YYR224/YYR225 69.1 70.3 76.1 73.6 59.1 53.1 48.3 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Caretta caretta YYR226/YYR227 66.0 67.5 72.0 67.9 55.5 52.1 39.1 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Caretta caretta YYR228 69.4 70.5 74.3 71.0 55.9 54.5 48.7 Hand capture 8/4/2008 Chelonia mydas 4 YYR229 45.3 45.9 48.6 41.5 36.2 37.3 12.4 Hand capture 8/5/2008 Chelonia mydas 36.7 37.2 39.6 34.7 29.6 29.6 6.3 North net 8/5/2008 Caretta caretta 5 N9865 84.5 85.3 93.6 88.5 66.5 65.9 90.9 South net 8/5/2008 Chelonia mydas 6 TTY381 45.5 45.7 48.6 41.8 35.1 38.5 13.0 North net 8/6/2008 Caretta caretta 7 YYR230/YYR231 90.3 90.9 97.7 86.8 69.8 70.3 103.8 South net 8/6/2008 Caretta caretta YYR232/YYR233 62.6 63.7 69.1 63.7 52.1 49.3 38.1 North net 8/7/2008 Caretta caretta 8 72.5 73.9 79.8 73.4 58.7 57.0 59.5 Hand capture 8/7/2008 Caretta caretta YYR234/YYR235 66.4 67.9 74.2 68.6 52.3 50.4 41.2 Hand capture 8/7/2008 Caretta caretta YYR236/YYR237 63.5 64.5 69.7 67.8 54.8 48.1 34.2 Hand capture 8/10/2008 Caretta caretta YYR238/YYR239 65.5 66.2 72.2 68.8 52.7 50.8 34.3 Hand capture

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/10/2008 Caretta caretta YYR240/YYR241 62.1 63.3 69.2 62.9 52.9 48.9 32.7 North net 8/11/2008 Chelonia mydas 9 YYR242/YYR243 94.0 94.8 102.5 91.7 73.0 79.0 128.2 South net 8/12/2008 Caretta caretta 10 85.3 85.5 91.4 80.0 65.2 60.9 86.5 North net 8/16/2008 Caretta caretta YYR244/YYR245 70.5 71.8 78.3 76.2 61.6 54.2 57.1 North net 8/17/2008 Caretta caretta 11 RRW832/RRW833 59.5 61.7 68.5 64.5 52.7 46.7 34.4 North net 8/23/2008 Caretta caretta 12 YYR100/YYR101 61.1 62.4 66.1 64.7 50.9 47.2 33.9 South net 8/23/2008 Caretta caretta YYR246/YYR247 60.8 62.5 66.7 64.7 52.1 46.9 32.9 South net 8/23/2008 Chelonia mydas YYR248 31.1 32.1 33.4 29.1 26.4 26.4 3.6 South net 8/24/2008 Caretta caretta 13 YYB108/YYB109 62.7 64.2 68.2 66.4 54.4 50.1 34.6 North net 8/24/2008 Caretta caretta YYR249/YYR250 65.5 66.3 71.7 68.1 55.6 50.2 40.2 North net 8/25/2008 Chelonia mydas 29.6 29.9 31.5 26.0 22.9 24.0 3.0 South net 8/25/2008 Chelonia mydas 32.3 32.4 34.0 29.7 26.3 27.9 4.3 South net 8/25/2008 Chelonia mydas 14 YYB268 58.4 58.6 63.2 57.0 45.5 48.4 27.7 North net 8/27/2008 Caretta caretta YYR251/YYR252 69.0 70.6 76.3 73.1 57.1 53.9 46.3 South net 8/27/2008 Caretta caretta 15 YYR253 84.9 85.2 91.4 81.0 65.0 60.5 77.9 North net 8/28/2008 Caretta caretta 16 YYR254/YYR255 97.3 98.2 108.5 98.6 78.4 76.2 132.5 South net 8/28/2008 Caretta caretta YYR256/YYR257 63.0 64.1 70.9 67.0 53.8 49.0 34.4 Between barrier nets 8/28/2008 Caretta caretta YYR258/YYR259 69.3 69.9 76.7 72.4 60.3 54.9 50.2 Between barrier nets 8/28/2008 Chelonia mydas 17 YYR260 43.1 43.4 46.5 41.1 35.1 35.9 12.1 North net 8/28/2008 Caretta caretta YYR261/YYR262 64.0 65.5 71.2 66.2 55.5 51.6 37.1 Between barrier nets

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/28/2008 Caretta caretta YYR263/YYR264 67.9 70.2 75.6 71.4 57.8 53.0 43.6 Between barrier nets 8/29/2008 Chelonia mydas 18 29.6 30.0 31.6 25.8 22.4 23.6 3.0 Between barrier nets 8/29/2008 Caretta caretta YYR265/YYR266 64.9 65.6 70.9 68.0 56.0 50.2 36.4 Between barrier nets 8/29/2008 Caretta caretta YYR267/YYR268 66.9 68.3 74.9 72.0 57.0 52.4 45.8 Between barrier nets 8/30/2008 Chelonia mydas 29.0 29.2 30.6 26.5 23.3 24.3 3.0 South net 8/31/2008 Caretta caretta 19 YYR269/YYR270 75.5 77.4 81.7 77.6 62.3 59.4 64.3 Barrier net 8/31/2008 Caretta caretta YYR271/YYR272 62.2 63.0 68.5 68.3 55.1 50.6 40.3 North net 8/31/2008 Caretta caretta YYR273/YYR274 66.3 67.2 74.2 72.5 61.3 53.9 44.7 North net 8/31/2008 Caretta caretta 20 YYR275/YYR276 89.9 91.2 98.0 90.7 67.5 69.3 111.8 South net

NOTES

1. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/21/99, 1/17/02, 11/21/02, 12/23/03, 10/10/04, 3/30/05, 6/14/05, 7/13/05, 8/28/07 and 2/5/08.

2. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 2/26/08.

3. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/17/01, 5/5/03, 6/1/03, 6/18/03, 7/23/03, 10/4/03, 11/7/03, 7/9/05, 10/3/05, 1/26/06, 9/12/06, 7/1/07, 9/1/07 4/18/08 and 5/25/08.

4. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 2/17/05 and 5/15/07.

5. Strange tag, whereabouts pending. Adult female. Tail length = 207 mm.

6. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/8/01, 5/3/05, 5/9/05, 7/7/05, 5/16/06, 8/23/06, 9/12/06, 10/30/06, 4/26/07 and 4/12/08.

7. Adult female. Tail length = 207 mm.

8. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/4/02, 9/17/02, 11/5/02, 4/15/03, 7/1/03, 2/16/04, 4/11/05, 6/19/06, 9/16/06 and 8/15/07.

9. Adult female. Tail length = 207 mm.

10. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/3/03 and 9/17/05. Adult male. Tail length = 441 mm.

11. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/10/04, 7/24/05 and 1/30/06.

12. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 7/1/08.

13. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/18/07, 8/21/07, 8/24/07,9/2/07, 9/10/07, 10/25/07, 12/17/07, 1/25/08, 4/6/08, 4/30/08 and 7/13/08.

14. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/21/99, 1/17/02, 11/21/02, 12/23/03, 10/10/04, 3/30/05, 6/14/05, 7/13/05, 8/28/07, 2/5/08 and 8/4/08.

15. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/3/03, 9/17/05 and 8/12/08. Adult male. Tail length = 441 mm.

16. Adult female. Tail length = 190 mm.

17. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 7/24/03, 1/16/04, 9/23/05 and 9/19/06.

18. Turtle recovered (fresh dead) from under west side of primary barrier net. No wounds or abnormalities. Causal to power plant operation. Held in freezer for necropsy.

19. Turtle removed from surface of primary barrier net. Lethargic with no wounds or abnormalities. Held overnight for transport to Sea World on 9/1/08. Not causal to power plant operation.

20. Adult female. Tail length = 255 mm.

SMCL = Straight Minimum Carapace Length SMCL = Straight Standard Carapace Length CSCL = Curved Standard Carapace Length CMCW = Curved Maximum Carapace Width SMCW = Straight Maximum Carapace Width SMPL = Straight Midline Plastron Length

Loggerheads Green turtles Hawksbills Leatherbacks Kemp's ridley (Eretmochelys (Dermochelys (Lepidochelys (Caretta caretta) (Chelonia mydas) imbricata) coriacea) kempii) Overall Totals Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Captures 33 295 13 142 0 4 0 0 0 2 46 443 Causal Mortalities 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Non-causal Mortalities 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Causal Injuries 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Sent to rehab 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date None 2 32 1 28 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 64 Minor 15 147 7 74 0 1 0 0 0 0 22 222 Moderate 16 104 5 37 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 142 Severe 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 48.5% 36.6% 38.5% 28.2% #DIV/0! 0.0% #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! 50.0% 45.7% 33.6%

Balsam, Briana From: Michael_Bresette@fpl.com Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 10:29 AM To: Meghan.Koperski@MyFWC.com; Logan, Dennis; Ed_Hollowell@fpl.com; Shelley.Norton@noaa.gov; Vince_Munne@fpl.com; Winifred.Perkins@fpl.com; Bob.Hoffman@noaa.gov; Stacy.Foster@fpl.com; David_Niebch@fpl.com; Jodie.Gless@fpl.com

Subject:

Correction August sea turtle captures Attachments: St. Lucie caps 2008.xls ADAMSAccessionNumber:ML082950563 Please see the attached, corrected spreadsheet for turtles captured in August. I had forgotten to add the loggerhead that went to rehab to the list. - Michael (See attached file: St. Lucie caps 2008.xls) 1

Loggerheads Green turtles Hawksbills Leatherbacks Kemp's ridley (Eretmochelys (Dermochelys (Lepidochelys (Caretta caretta) (Chelonia mydas) imbricata) coriacea) kempii) Overall Totals Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Captures 33 295 13 142 0 4 0 0 0 2 46 443 Causal Mortalities 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Non-causal Mortalities 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Causal Injuries 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Sent to rehab 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date Aug-08 Date None 2 32 1 28 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 64 Minor 15 147 7 74 0 1 0 0 0 0 22 222 Moderate 16 104 5 37 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 142 Severe 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 48.5% 36.6% 38.5% 28.2% #DIV/0! 0.0% #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! 50.0% 45.7% 33.6%