ML18024B360

NRR E-mail Capture - (External_Sender) December 2017 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report

ML18024B360
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	01/09/2018
From:	Weege S - No Known Affiliation
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML18024B360 (9)

Text

NRR-DMPSPEm Resource From: Steve Weege <steveweege@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2018 7:19 AM To: Meghan Koperski Cc: Ed Hollowell; Jodie Gless; Ken Frehafer; Marine Turtle Permit; Michael Bresette; EndangeredSpecies Resource; SCO@dep.state.fl.us; Vince Munne; Cody Mott; Jeff Guertin; Ryan Welsh; debbie.spring@noaa.gov; Eaton, Kristin; Jonathan Gorham; William.Nurnberger@fpl.com; Audra Livergood - NOAA Federal

Subject:

[External_Sender] December 2017 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Attachments: December 2017 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf; Monthly Report Notes 2017.pdf; FPL St.

Lucie Capture Summary 2017.pdf; Power Plant Causal Turtles.pdf Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469

Subject:

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary December 2017

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for December 2017. This month, we captured 16 Caretta caretta, 14 Chelonia mydas, one Eretmochelys imbricata, and one Lepidochelys kempii in the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. There was one sea turtle mortality and three turtles were sent for rehabilitation. As with all sea turtle strandings at the Saint Lucie Plant (alive or dead), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was consulted and a stranding form was filed with the state through the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network.

There was one non-causal mortality this month. On December 7th, an adult female loggerhead was found floating on the barrier net in the morning. The turtle was moderately decomposed (extremely bloated and scutes sloughing off). No obvious signs of trauma. The turtle was buried after consultation with FWC.

Three turtles were sent to rehabilitation centers for non-causal injuries this month. On December 7th, an emaciated and lethargic subadult loggerhead was found floating on the 5-inch barrier net in the morning. It had a heavy epibiont load and was apparently suffering from Debilitated Loggerhead Turtle Syndrome. FWC personnel transported the turtle to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) in Juno Beach for rehabilitation.

On December 18th, an adult female hawksbill was found languishing at the surface of the intake canal in the morning (dip-netted). It was emaciated and lethargic with a heavy epibiont load. Ecological Associates, Inc.

personnel picked up the turtle and transported it to LMC for rehab. On December 26th, an adult female loggerhead was recovered from the permanent 5-inch barrier net in the morning. The turtle was emaciated and lethargic with an old 1 cm puncture wound in the soft tissue between its right rear flipper and plastron. After coordinating with FWC, Inwater Research Group (IRG) biologists transported the turtle to LMC for rehab. All three strandings were classified as non-causal.

1

The permanent 5-inch barrier net encountered light-to-moderate loads of jellyfish during the month of December. Underwater Engineering Services continued to inspect the A-1-A barrier net weekly and removed accumulated algae and debris as needed. Furthermore, IRG inspected the entire length of the intake canal (up to the security barrier) at least twice daily for turtles that may have made it past the primary or secondary barrier nets. The area between the 5-inch and 8-inch barrier nets was also monitored periodically with a small john boat. No turtles were encountered west of the primary barrier net in December.

The tag numbers and morphometric data for all turtles captured during the month have been included with this report (see attachments/addendums). Also included is a spreadsheet for all captures, mortalities, injuries, and causal events delineated by species and by month for 2017. In addition, this spreadsheet tracks fresh scrapes incurred on captured turtles for the current month, as well as the entire year. An additional Excel spreadsheet tracks all causal injuries and mortalities incurred by sea turtles at the St. Lucie Plant since 2004.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely, Steve Steve Weege Sr. Environmental Specialist Inwater Research Group, Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Dr.

Jensen Beach, FL 34957 sweege@inwater.org (772) 349-7252 2

Hearing Identifier: NRR_DMPS Email Number: 125 Mail Envelope Properties (CAJrYmh9TG+wU5SBJomPHiCJsDo1Fk3nXCkdWe_2-O=b9y-KBhA)

Subject:

[External_Sender] December 2017 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Sent Date: 1/9/2018 7:19:07 AM Received Date: 1/9/2018 7:19:17 AM From: Steve Weege Created By: steveweege@gmail.com Recipients:

"Ed Hollowell" <Ed.Hollowell@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Jodie Gless" <Jodie_Gless@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Ken Frehafer" <Ken_Frehafer@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Marine Turtle Permit" <MTP@myfwc.com>

Tracking Status: None "Michael Bresette" <mbresette@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "EndangeredSpecies Resource" <EndangeredSpecies.Resource@nrc.gov>

Tracking Status: None "SCO@dep.state.fl.us" <SCO@dep.state.fl.us>

Tracking Status: None "Vince Munne" <Vince.Munne@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Cody Mott" <cmott@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "Jeff Guertin" <jguertin@gmail.com>

Tracking Status: None "Ryan Welsh" <rwelsh@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "debbie.spring@noaa.gov" <debbie.spring@noaa.gov>

Tracking Status: None "Eaton, Kristin" <Kristin.Eaton@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Jonathan Gorham" <jgorham@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "William.Nurnberger@fpl.com" <William.Nurnberger@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Audra Livergood - NOAA Federal" <audra.livergood@noaa.gov>

Tracking Status: None "Meghan Koperski" <Meghan.Koperski@myfwc.com>

Tracking Status: None Post Office: mail.gmail.com Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 3659 1/9/2018 7:19:17 AM December 2017 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf 77770 Monthly Report Notes 2017.pdf 58150

FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2017.pdf 74592 Power Plant Causal Turtles.pdf 83106 Options Priority: Standard Return Notification: No Reply Requested: No Sensitivity: Normal Expiration Date:

Recipients Received:

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL DECEMBER 2017 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/1/2017 Lepidochelys MMX130/MMX131 57.4 58.2 61.1 63.5 54.0 44.9 24.9 North net kempii 12/3/2017 Chelonia mydas 1 LLP337/LLP338 58.5 58.6 62.4 55.1 45.5 50.3 28.8 South net 12/4/2017 Chelonia mydas 2 MMX032/MMX033 55.8 56.0 59.6 56.3 43.8 45.4 22.9 North net 12/4/2017 Chelonia mydas 3 MMX132/MMX133 58.7 59.9 63.9 56.2 47.1 48.7 26.6 South net 12/5/2017 Caretta caretta MMX134/MMX136 68.8 70.0 73.8 69.3 56.7 54.4 49.7 South net 12/5/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX137 28.8 29.0 30.2 26.1 24.0 23.8 3.0 South net 12/6/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX138/MMX139 34.9 35.2 37.0 33.5 28.6 28.8 4.8 Dip net 12/7/2017 Caretta caretta 4 JRG171207-01 73.1 73.7 78.3 74.7 57.5 56.0 49.1 Barrier net 12/7/2017 Caretta caretta 5 JRG171207-02 87.6 90.5 97.2 87.0 69.4 65.1 87.4 Barrier net 12/7/2017 Caretta caretta MMX140/MMX141 66.4 68.4 74.0 73.2 59.2 55.6 50.9 North net 12/7/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX142/MMX143 69.9 70.2 74.6 70.7 58.9 58.3 47.6 South net 12/7/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX144/MMX145 59.5 59.6 63.5 65.2 44.8 47.2 26.5 North net 12/8/2017 Caretta caretta MMX146/MMX147 58.8 60.2 64.3 64.2 52.3 47.3 32.1 South net 12/12/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX148/MMX149 31.0 31.4 32.7 28.1 25.7 25.8 3.2 South net 12/13/2017 Chelonia mydas 6 MMX062/MMX063 63.2 64.1 68.2 58.9 49.9 52.3 30.7 South net

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/16/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX150 26.3 26.7 27.7 24.4 21.7 21.9 2.3 Dip net 12/18/2017 Eretmochelys 7 STW171218-01 71.2 72.7 79.2 71.4 56.2 54.4 37.7 Dip net imbricata 12/19/2017 Caretta caretta 8 MMA707/MMX154 70.4 71.5 75.5 72.8 58.5 54.6 48.4 South net 12/19/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX151 28.0 28.2 29.0 26.9 25.1 23.5 3.2 South net 12/19/2017 Caretta caretta MMX152/MMX153 56.8 57.4 63.1 62.5 52.5 45.0 31.5 South net 12/20/2017 Caretta caretta MMX155/MMX156 62.6 63.5 68.1 68.0 55.3 49.6 39.9 South net 12/21/2017 Caretta caretta MMX157/MMX158 68.0 69.5 75.6 72.1 61.3 54.6 48.2 South net 12/22/2017 Caretta caretta MMX159/MMX160 69.2 70.5 75.9 72.1 58.2 53.0 43.6 South net 12/26/2017 Caretta caretta 9 STW171226-01 88.7 89.4 96.7 87.2 68.9 66.8 81.2 Barrier net 12/27/2017 Caretta caretta 10 MMA860/MMA861 63.3 64.6 69.1 67.9 53.0 49.4 40.2 North net 12/27/2017 Caretta caretta MMX161/MMX162 64.9 65.9 69.5 68.2 55.4 52.3 40.2 South net 12/27/2017 Caretta caretta MMX163/MMX164 58.2 59.4 63.8 62.7 50.4 47.0 30.9 South net 12/28/2017 Caretta caretta MMX165/MMX166 64.9 65.5 69.8 70.5 55.7 55.2 41.6 North net 12/29/2017 Chelonia mydas MMX167/MMX168 45.4 45.9 49.2 43.6 39.7 36.8 11.9 North net 12/30/2017 Chelonia mydas 11 MMX169/MMX170 55.4 55.9 61.5 53.4 43.6 43.5 21.4 North net 12/31/2017 Caretta caretta 12 MMJ008/MMJ009 57.1 58.1 63.5 59.3 50.0 45.3 31.4 North net 12/31/2017 Chelonia mydas 13 MMX171/MMX172 44.5 45.0 49.3 42.3 35.5 36.9 11.1 North net

NOTES

1. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/18/11, 4/26/12, 7/7/12, 1/30/13, 5/13/13, 11/14/13, 12/16/13, 7/15/14, 9/12/14, 1/23/15, 3/12/15, 4/14/15, 7/16/15, 12/15/15, 2/21/16, 12/1/16, 10/4/17, and 12/3/17.

2. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/2/12, 10/28/12, 3/17/15, 12/12/16, 10/21/17, and 12/4/17.

3. PAPILLOMAS (Balazs Tumor Score = 1 {light}, Total Tumor Score = 3). Deep moderate fresh scrape in nuchal scute.

4. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# JRG171207-01. Emaciated and lethargic subadult loggerhead found floating on the 5-inch barrier net in the morning. Heavy epibiont load. Turtle apparently suffering from Debilitated Loggerhead Turtle Syndrome. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) personnel transported the turtle to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) in Juno Beach for rehab.

5. DEAD (NON-CAUSAL MORTALITY). Stranding# JRG171207-02. Adult female loggerhead found floating on the barrier net in the morning. Turtle was moderately decomposed (extremely bloated and scutes sloughing off). No obvious signs of trauma. The turtle was buried after consultation with FWC.

Adult female. Tail length = 249 mm.

6. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/17/08, 11/26/11, 10/8/13, 10/25/17, and 12/13/17.

7. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# STW171218-01. Adult female hawksbill found languishing at the surface of the intake canal in the morning (dip-netted). Emaciated & lethargic with heavy epibiont load.

Ecological Associates, Inc. personnel picked up and transported to LMC for rehab. Adult female.

Tail length = 140 mm.

8. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/15/16 and 12/19/17. This was an excluder device testing turtle from last year.

9. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# STW171226-01. Adult female loggerhead recovered from the permanent 5-inch barrier net in the morning. Turtle was emaciated and lethargic. Old 1 cm puncture wound in soft tissue between right rear flipper and plastron. Inwater Research Group biologists transported the turtle to LMC for rehab. Adult female. Tail length = 197 mm.

10. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 5/30/17, 11/5/17, and 12/27/17.

11. PAPILLOMAS (Balazs Tumor Score = 2 {moderate}, Total Tumor Score = 27).

12. STRANGE TAG (PIT & Inconel Tags). PIT tag in left shoulder. Original tagging information pending (Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research). Old healed shark bite in right posterior carapace.

13. PAPILLOMAS (Balazs Tumor Score = 2 {moderate}, Total Tumor Score = 42).

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-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Captures 16 250 14 182 1 2 0 0 1 1 32 435 Causal Mortalities 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Non-Causal Mortalities 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 Causal Injuries 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sent to Rehab 2 15 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 19 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date Dec-17 Date None 5 33 1 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 59 Minor 11 207 12 143 1 2 0 0 1 1 25 353 Moderate 0 10 1 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 23 Severe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent with Mod/Sev Scrapes 0.0% 4.0% 7.1% 7.1% 0.0% 0.0% N/A N/A 0.0% 0.0% 3.1% 5.3%

Injury/Mortality

StLuciePowerPlantCausalTurtles 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 TotalsbySpecies TotalCaptures 623 484 419 227 420 260 295 302 232 302 275 274 316 250 4,679 Loggerhead Injuries 0 1 *3 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 Mortalities 1 0 *21 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 25 TotalCaptures 286 428 267 101 299 161 444 217 127 197 134 181 159 182 3,183 Green Injuries 0 3 7 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16 Mortalities 1 1 1 1 2 0 3 1 2 2 0 4 0 3 21 TotalCaptures 2 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 2 2 0 2 1 0 14 Leatherback Injuries 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TotalCaptures 1 3 3 0 2 0 7 0 0 0 2 7 6 1 32 Kemp'sRidley Injuries 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TotalCaptures 2 2 2 1 4 2 3 2 1 2 3 1 4 2 31 Hawksbill Injuries 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Injury&MortalityYearlyTotals 2 5 32 1 5 3 5 1 3 3 0 4 1 5 70 TotalCapturesperYear 914 917 692 330 725 424 751 521 362 503 414 465 486 435 7,939

• Theloggerheadcausalinjuriesandmortalitiesin2006wereallhatchlings.