ML102420160

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary for December 2009

ML102420160
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	01/11/2010
From:	Singewald D Inwater Research Group
To:	Koperski M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, State of FL, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
References
Download: ML102420160 (6)

Text

Balsam, Briana From: David Singewald [dsingewald@att.net]

Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 9:23 AM To: meghan.koperski@myfwc.com Cc: Logan, Dennis; ed_hollowell@fpl.com; shelley.norton@noaa.gov; vince_munne@fpl.com; bob.hoffman@noaa.gov; david_niebch@fpl.com; jodie_gless@fpl.com; mbresette@inwater.org

Subject:

Marine Turtle Captures December 2009 Attachments: Dec09rep.rtf; Notes09.xls; St. Lucie caps 2009.xls

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for December 2009. In December, we captured twenty four (24) Caretta caretta, and twenty four (24) Chelonia mydas at the intake canal of the St.

Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. On December 28, a sub-adult loggerhead was found with deep lacerations to both rear flippers caused by a shark attack. After consultation with FFWCC personnel this turtle was transported to the Marinelife Center in Juno Beach by Inwater Research Group biologists and was determined to be non-causal to power plant operation. On the same day, a sub-adult green turtle was captured and found to have multiple fresh cuts and scrapes to the head exposing the skull. This event was considered causal to power plant operation as a result of injuries sustained during entrainment through the intake pipe.

This turtle was transported by IRG biologists to the Marinelife Center in Juno Beach as a cautionary measure of a possible skull fracture and/or concussion.

Throughout the month of December the 5 barrier net experienced light loads of algae that entered into the intake canal. This temporary barrier has effectively kept turtles from moving further down the canal. A permanent fix to the primary net continues to remain in the design phase.

Tag numbers and morphometric data for all turtles are attached. Also, attached is a spreadsheet of all captures, mortalities, injuries and causal events delineated by species and month/year to date for 2009. This spreadsheet also includes and tracks fresh scrapes incurred on captured turtles for the month of December as well as 2009 year end totals and percentage.

Sincerely, David A. Singewald Sr. Environmental Specialist Inwater Research Group, Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Dr.

Jensen Beach, FL 34957 772-216-5096 1

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL DECEMBER 2009 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/2/2009 Caretta caretta 1 TTY211 63.0 64.6 67.7 64.8 53.6 48.0 35.0 Hand capture 12/2/2009 Caretta caretta UUB708/UUB709 56.5 57.4 61.8 58.4 49.6 45.5 28.4 South net 12/3/2009 Chelonia mydas 2 YYW346 40.0 40.1 42.3 36.7 31.7 33.9 6.4 North net 12/4/2009 Caretta caretta UUB710/UUB711 71.1 72.8 77.6 72.7 60.1 53.4 45.9 Hand capture 12/7/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB712/UUB713 39.4 40.1 42.0 35.3 31.3 33.1 6.8 North net 12/7/2009 Caretta caretta UUB714/UUB715 65.8 67.2 72.2 68.0 58.4 53.8 45.1 North net 12/7/2009 Chelonia mydas 3 YYB180 60.7 60.9 65.0 57.0 47.7 50.8 33.0 North net 12/9/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB716/UUB717 63.3 64.6 68.3 60.2 51.5 52.2 30.4 South net 12/9/2009 Caretta caretta UUB718/UUB719 63.1 64.2 69.1 64.5 54.6 50.7 37.3 South net 12/10/2009 Caretta caretta UUB720/UUB721 64.5 66.1 72.6 71.0 57.7 51.0 40.4 Hand capture 12/10/2009 Chelonia mydas 4 UUB722/UUB723 67.4 67.8 72.8 65.8 52.4 54.7 40.8 Hand capture 12/10/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB724 45.3 45.5 48.1 40.0 35.8 37.7 11.6 Hand capture 12/10/2009 Chelonia mydas 5 UUB725 55.2 55.4 59.9 52.9 42.8 45.4 23.9 Hand capture 12/11/2009 Caretta caretta UUB726/UUB727 58.5 59.3 65.6 62.9 50.0 46.7 36.0 South net 12/12/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB728 29.4 29.8 31.3 27.1 24.5 25.4 3.3 North net 12/13/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB729/UUB730 73.0 73.4 78.0 68.2 56.7 60.2 47.8 North net 12/13/2009 Caretta caretta UUB731/UUB732 72.6 73.8 80.6 76.3 64.0 55.6 57.9 North net

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/14/2009 Chelonia mydas 6 UUB733 52.3 52.3 55.5 51.4 41.8 42.2 20.2 North net 12/14/2009 Chelonia mydas 7 YYW391 52.7 53.1 56.2 49.6 44.5 43.1 20.1 South net 12/15/2009 Chelonia mydas 8 YYW069 51.4 51.9 54.5 47.3 39.9 42.9 17.3 North net 12/16/2009 Caretta caretta UUB734/UUB735 53.3 54.2 59.0 56.0 47.5 42.5 24.6 North net 12/18/2009 Caretta caretta UUB736/UUB737 60.4 61.4 67.3 63.8 52.9 45.8 35.4 North net 12/18/2009 Caretta caretta 9 YYR246/YYR247 60.6 62.2 68.2 65.0 50.5 46.2 35.8 North net 12/19/2009 Chelonia mydas 10 UUB738/UUB739 49.8 50.3 53.6 46.5 39.7 41.3 16.0 South net 12/20/2009 Caretta caretta UUB740/UUB741 65.0 66.4 71.9 69.4 57.4 54.3 49.8 North net 12/21/2009 Chelonia mydas 26.5 27.0 28.1 22.6 20.5 21.8 2.1 Dip net 12/21/2009 Caretta caretta UUB742/UUB743 47.0 47.8 52.0 51.2 41.4 37.1 16.1 North net 12/21/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB744 31.2 31.3 33.0 29.8 26.7 25.9 4.1 Dip net 12/23/2009 Chelonia mydas 28.8 29.1 30.5 26.5 24.3 24.5 3.2 Dip net 12/23/2009 Chelonia mydas UUB745 42.3 43.0 44.5 37.8 32.8 34.1 9.7 North net 12/26/2009 Chelonia mydas 11 70.1 70.5 75.0 67.1 55.0 59.3 48.6 North net 12/26/2009 Caretta caretta UUB746/UUB747 69.0 70.2 76.9 75.0 60.7 55.6 52.2 North net 12/26/2009 Caretta caretta UUB748/UUB749 67.6 68.9 73.3 73.4 58.9 56.6 52.8 North net 12/26/2009 Caretta caretta UUB750/UUB751 62.3 63.7 69.2 67.7 55.4 49.1 36.5 North net 12/26/2009 Caretta caretta UUB752/UUB753 61.6 62.9 68.0 67.1 53.6 50.6 37.9 North net 12/27/2009 Chelonia mydas 28.8 29.5 30.7 26.9 24.9 24.4 3.3 Dip net 12/27/2009 Caretta caretta 12 UUB742/UUB743 46.5 47.8 50.0 51.0 41.4 37.1 16.3 Dip net

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/28/2009 Chelonia mydas 13 70.5 71.1 76.4 71.3 55.6 60.2 49.9 South net 12/28/2009 Caretta caretta 14 68.3 70.4 75.7 70.6 55.7 52.7 46.0 South net 12/29/2009 Chelonia mydas 30.8 31.1 32.2 28.3 25.8 25.5 3.7 Dip net 12/29/2009 Chelonia mydas 26.1 26.5 27.5 24.7 22.7 21.8 2.4 Dip net 12/29/2009 Chelonia mydas 15 UUB754/UUB755 54.0 54.4 58.5 50.6 42.1 45.1 22.7 South net 12/29/2009 Caretta caretta UUB756/UUB757 65.2 66.3 72.0 67.8 56.5 50.9 40.6 Dip net 12/29/2009 Chelonia mydas 16 YYB008 63.9 64.3 67.7 57.8 49.7 53.4 33.5 South net 12/30/2009 Caretta caretta UUB758/UUB759 62.8 64.1 70.6 68.7 56.4 50.3 43.3 North net 12/30/2009 Caretta caretta UUB760/UUB761 49.0 50.5 54.8 52.3 41.7 38.8 17.7 North net 12/30/2009 Caretta caretta UUB762/UUB763 54.8 56.0 61.8 60.9 49.0 44.0 25.9 North net 12/30/2009 Caretta caretta UUB764/UUB765 55.0 55.9 61.9 62.0 49.0 44.5 29.2 South net

NOTES

1. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 1/12/07, 2/28/07, 7/12/07, 8/5/07, 9/8/07 and 3/3/09.

2. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 7/28/09.

3. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 6/15/03, 7/17/03, 11/26/03, 4/1/04, 5/14/05, 7/2/05, 7/23/05, 10/17/05, 5/10/06, 8/21/06, 9/25/06, 12/2/07, 3/15/08, 11/2/08, 2/14/09 and 6/23/09.

4. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/7/03, 9/22/03, 8/20/04, 4/26/06 and 8/15/06.

5. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 6/28/98, 10/12/98, 2/26/99, 5/11/99, 9/16/99, 12/13/99, 1/14/00, 1/24/00, 3/20/00, 4/17/00, 6/7/00, 9/15/00, 12/10/00, 8/9/01, 4/13/02, 1/11/03, 8/15/03, 10/2/03, 3/3/04, 5/23/04, 4/30/05, 5/29/05, 6/30/05, 10/5/05, 11/4/05, 2/2/06, 8/18/06, 9/17/08 and 12/10/08.

6. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 3/1/04, 11/3/04, 11/21/04, 7/8/05, 8/12/05, 9/13/05, 4/24/06, 9/29/06, 11/19/06, 12/4/06, 12/9/07, 2/10/08, 4/3/08, 9/14/08, 11/26/08 and 12/18/08.

7. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/20/09.

8. 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, 4/12/08, 8/5/08, 1/26/09 and 4/22/09.

9. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/23/08, 9/17/08, 1/10/09 and 3/17/09.

10. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 2/17/05, 5/15/07 and 8/4/08.

11. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/31/03, 5/8/05, 6/18/05 and 4/18/06.

12. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/21/09.

13. Turtle found with deep lacerations to both rear flippers caused by a shark attack. Bone is exposed on left rear flipper. Shark bites/rakings present on both carapace and plastron. Transported to Marinelife Center by IRG biologists. Not causal to power plant operation.

14. Turtle found with fresh cuts/scrapes on head exposing the skull due to entrainment through intake pipe.

Transported to Marinelife Center by IRG biologists as a cautionary measure of a possible concussion or skull fracture. Causal to power plant operation.

15. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 5/18/04 and 2/15/06.

16. Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/30/03, 10/6/04, 2/9/07, 5/24/07, 6/10/07 and 7/26/09.

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 (Chelonia (Eretmochelys (Dermochelys (Lepidochelys (Caretta caretta) mydas) imbricata) coriacea) kempii) Overall Totals Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Captures 24 260 24 161 0 2 0 1 0 0 48 424 Causal Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Non-causal Mortalities 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Causal Injuries 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 Sent to rehab 1 14 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 19 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date Dec-09 Date None 2 26 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 37 Minor 18 170 17 103 0 1 0 0 0 0 35 274 Moderate 4 61 3 42 0 1 0 1 0 0 7 105 Severe 0 3 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 16.7% 24.6% 16.7% 29.2% #DIV/0! 50.0% #DIV/0! 100.0% #DIV/0! #DIV/0! 16.7% 26.7%