ML22020A075
| ML22020A075 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 01/18/2022 |
| From: | Weege S Inwater Research Group |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML22020A075 (8) | |
Text
From:
Steve Weege <sweege@inwater.org>
Sent:
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 8:24 AM To:
Koperski, Meghan Cc:
Ed Hollowell; Jodie_Gless@fpl.com; Ken_Frehafer@fpl.com; Marine Turtle Permits; Michael Bresette; EndangeredSpecies Resource; SCO@dep.state.fl.us; Vince Munne; Cody Mott; Jeff Guertin; Ryan Welsh; Eaton, Kristin; Jonathon Gorham; William Nurnberger; audra.livergood@noaa.gov; Sciscente, Richard; Seth.Duston@fpl.com
Subject:
[External_Sender] December 2021 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Attachments:
December 2021 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf; Monthly Report Notes 2021.pdf; FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2021.pdf Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469
Subject:
Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary December 2021
Dear Meghan,
Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for December 2021. This month we captured 16 Caretta caretta, 10 Chelonia mydas, and one Lepidochelys kempii in the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. Three sea turtles were sent for rehabilitation (non-causal) and there was one causal mortality during the month of December. As with all sea turtle strandings at the Saint Lucie Plant, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was consulted and stranding forms were filed with the state through the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network.
Three sea turtles were sent to rehab for non-causal injuries this month. On December 4th, a small subadult loggerhead was hand captured in the intake canal with healing shark attack injuries. The turtle had significant soft tissue injuries and was underweight. It was taken to the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne for rehab. On December 17th, an emaciated adult female loggerhead was removed from the tangle nets in fair condition. This turtle was transported to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center (GLNC) in Boca Raton for treatment of Debilitated Loggerhead Turtle Syndrome. On December 29th, an adult female loggerhead was caught in the tangle nets that had extensive boat strike injuries to its carapace and limbs (also taken to GLNC). Because these injuries/illnesses were unrelated to the power plant, all three strandings were classified as a non-causal.
There was one causal sea turtle mortality this month. On December 10th, a subadult loggerhead was found fresh dead on the 5-inch barrier net at the end of the day. The turtle had two unhealed prop wounds in its posterior carapace (gashes extended through both the carapace and plastron) and the pygals had also been chopped off by the action of the prop. In accordance with protocol, the animal was held on ice for necropsy and final causality determination by a licensed veterinarian. Despite being compromised, the turtle was determined to have drowned and was therefore deemed causal.
The primary 5-inch barrier net encountered negligible amounts of algae throughout the month.
Altogether, the primary barrier net has performed as designed and no turtles have been observed beyond the 5 inch net.
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 2021. In addition, this spreadsheet tracks fresh scrapes incurred on captured turtles for the current month, as well as the entire year.
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
Hearing Identifier:
NRR_DRMA Email Number:
1494 Mail Envelope Properties (CAOA4+RLzXTRRRv1d6j_+S+dLz02wHLZHRORe=r=MOVdgExB0pQ)
Subject:
[External_Sender] December 2021 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Sent Date:
1/18/2022 8:23:43 AM Received Date:
1/18/2022 8:24:15 AM From:
Steve Weege Created By:
sweege@inwater.org Recipients:
"Ed Hollowell" <Ed.Hollowell@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Jodie_Gless@fpl.com" <Jodie_Gless@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Ken_Frehafer@fpl.com" <Ken_Frehafer@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Marine Turtle Permits" <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 "Eaton, Kristin" <Kristin.Eaton@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Jonathon Gorham" <jgorham@inwater.org>
Tracking Status: None "William Nurnberger" <William.Nurnberger@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "audra.livergood@noaa.gov" <audra.livergood@noaa.gov>
Tracking Status: None "Sciscente, Richard" <Richard.Sciscente@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Seth.Duston@fpl.com" <Seth.Duston@fpl.com>
Tracking Status: None "Koperski, Meghan" <Meghan.Koperski@myfwc.com>
Tracking Status: None Post Office:
mail.gmail.com Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 3129 1/18/2022 8:24:15 AM
December 2021 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf 89941 Monthly Report Notes 2021.pdf 70506 FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2021.pdf 86689 Options Priority:
Normal Return Notification:
No Reply Requested:
No Sensitivity:
Normal Expiration Date:
MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL DECEMBER 2021 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(kg) 12/2/2021 Caretta caretta 1
FFE473/FFE474 85.8 88.7 92.8 80.0 62.3 67.1 77.9 South net 12/2/2021 Caretta caretta FFE475/FFE476 64.8 65.7 67.5 63.4 53.8 49.5 36.2 Dip net 12/3/2021 Caretta caretta FFE477/FFE478 71.6 72.5 75.4 71.4 56.5 56.3 47.4 North net 12/3/2021 Caretta caretta FFE479/FFE480 54.9 56.5 60.0 54.5 45.6 43.0 27.2 Dip net 12/3/2021 Chelonia mydas IRG0418/IRG0419 27.2 28.8 30.0 24.4 22.8 23.6 2.8 Dip net 12/4/2021 Chelonia mydas 2 4A61073F34 75.0 75.4 78.5 68.0 56.8 60.8 52.0 Hand capture 12/4/2021 Chelonia mydas 3 FFE481/FFE482 92.0 92.6 96.5 86.1 71.1 73.1 121.8 Hand capture 12/4/2021 Chelonia mydas FFE483/FFE484 77.0 77.9 80.1 74.0 61.7 61.9 55.1 Hand capture 12/4/2021 Caretta caretta FFE485/FFE486 65.3 67.2 69.2 66.5 56.7 51.4 41.4 Hand capture 12/4/2021 Chelonia mydas FFE487/FFE488 45.4 45.8 47.7 40.3 36.3 37.2 12.3 Hand capture 12/4/2021 Lepidochelys 4
FFE489/FFE490 61.1 61.4 62.4 66.5 59.3 47.4 32.1 Hand capture kempii 12/4/2021 Caretta caretta 5
SLG211204-001 59.6 60.2 64.3 62.9 51.4 45.9 30.4 Hand capture 12/10/2021 Chelonia mydas 6 FFE423/FFE424 39.8 40.2 41.9 35.1 31.0 32.2 8.0 North net 12/10/2021 Chelonia mydas FFE491/FFE492 61.2 62.3 65.1 61.0 48.9 50.5 33.3 South net 12/10/2021 Caretta caretta 7
STW211210-001 66.5 67.6 70.8 65.9 55.2 51.4 38.2 Barrier net 12/13/2021 Caretta caretta FFE493/FFE494 68.7 70.7 75.5 70.5 55.8 51.5 43.1 North net 12/14/2021 Caretta caretta FFE495/FFE496 64.2 65.2 67.9 67.8 55.7 53.1 40.5 South net
Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(cm)
(kg) 12/15/2021 Chelonia mydas 8 FFE497/FFE498 41.7 42.3 44.2 39.5 33.0 33.4 11.1 South net 12/16/2021 Chelonia mydas 9 KKY060/KKY061 55.9 56.4 58.4 55.0 44.8 45.9 21.9 South net 12/17/2021 Caretta caretta 10 WEC211217-001 85.5 86.7 90.5 82.2 66.8 63.8 81.4 North net 12/18/2021 Caretta caretta FFE499/FFE500 75.2 76.7 80.5 75.6 63.3 58.9 59.4 South net 12/19/2021 Chelonia mydas 11 FFE501/FFE502 53.2 53.5 54.9 50.7 43.0 44.1 19.6 South net 12/29/2021 Caretta caretta 12 FFE503/FFE504 84.0 85.7 89.1 87.1 70.5 65.2 93.6 South net 12/29/2021 Caretta caretta 13 FFE505/FFE506 94.3 94.7 100.5 90.6 62.8 67.9 103.8 North net 12/29/2021 Caretta caretta 14 FFE507/FFE508 92.0 92.2 96.4 90.2 67.4 68.9 105.8 North net 12/30/2021 Caretta caretta 15 FFE509/FFE510 87.7 89.2 91.8 90.2 75.8 66.4 87.2 North net 12/30/2021 Caretta caretta FFE511/FFE512 58.0 59.3 61.7 63.0 53.9 48.8 35.6 South net
NOTES
- 1. Adult female loggerhead. Tail length = 176 mm. Healed boat strike injury in middle of carapace (17 cm prop scar across vertebral scutes).
- 2. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/15/08, 3/23/10, 10/29/11, 12/27/11, 12/17/12, 1/22/14, 1/13/15, 5/5/16, 8/9/16, 7/26/17, 4/18/19, and 12/4/21. No new Inconel tags applied to turtle due to multiple tag scars.
- 3. Adult female green turtle. Tail length = 255 mm. Old shark rakings in both sides of carapace. Deep moderate 3.5 cm fresh scrape behind right eye.
- 4. Adult female Kemp's ridley. Tail length = 164 mm. Deep moderate fresh scrape in second vertebral scute.
- 5. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# SLG211204-001. Small subadult loggerhead hand captured in the intake canal with healing shark attack injuries. Turtle missing 40% of left rear flipper (necrotic tissue present). Healing shark bite wound in right axilla. Shark rakings in carapace and plastron. Turtle active but very underweight. Ecological Associates transported the turtle partway to the Brevard Zoo, Melbourne for rehab.
- 6. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/15/21, 10/31/21, and 12/10/21.
- 7. DEAD (CAUSAL MORTALITY). Stranding# STW211210-001. Subadult loggerhead found fresh dead on the 5-inch barrier net at the end of the day. Turtle was emaciated with two unhealed prop wounds in its posterior carapace (gashes extended through both the carapace and plastron). Pygals also chopped off by the prop. Turtle saved on ice for necropsy by Dr. Nancy Mettee, DVM. Forced submergence was still found to be the most likely cause of death.
- 8. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 1/31/20 and 12/15/21. Partially healed hooking wound in right axilla.
- 9. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 11/12/20 and 12/16/21. Possible hooking wound in right front flipper (healing).
- 10. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# WEC211217-001. Emaciated adult female loggerhead removed from the tangle nets in fair condition (tail length = 197 mm). Turtle transported to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton for rehab.
- 11. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 2/21/18 and 12/19/21. New Inconel tags inserted.
- 12. Adult female loggerhead. Tail length = 257 mm.
- 13. Adult male loggerhead. Tail length = 491 mm. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/24/01 and 12/29/21. Large healed indentation in left posterior carapace (likely from a healed boat strike). Healed constriction injury in left rear flipper.
- 14. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# WEC211229-001. Adult female loggerhead with six prop wounds running down its carapace and extensive flipper damage (tail length = 210 mm). The prop wounds in the carapace were healing and the flipper damage was completely healed. Turtle was tagged prior to rehab determination. Taken to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Boca Raton.
- 15. Adult male loggerhead. Tail length = 438 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
Dec-21 Year to Date Dec-21 Year to Date Dec-21 Year to Date Dec-21 Year to Date Dec-21 Year to Date Dec-21 Year to Date Captures 16 162 10 70 0
1 0
0 1
4 27 237 Causal Mortalities 1
1 0
1 0
0 0
0 0
0 1
2 Non-causal Mortalities 0
1 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1 Causal Injuries 0
0 0
1 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
1 Sent to rehab 3
16 0
2 0
1 0
0 0
0 3
19 Fresh Scrapes Dec-Year to Date Dec-Year to Date Dec-Year to Date Dec-Year to Date Dec-Year to Date Dec-Year to Date None 4
27 3
11 0
1 0
0 0
1 7
40 Minor 12 133 5
54 0
0 0
0 0
2 17 189 Moderate 0
2 2
5 0
0 0
0 1
1 3
8 Severe 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 0.0%
1.2%
20.0%
7.1%
N/A 0.0%
N/A N/A 100.0%
25.0%
11.1%
3.4%
Leatherbacks Loggerheads Green turtles (Caretta caretta)
(Chelonia mydas)
Overall Totals Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)
(Eretmochelys imbricata)
(Dermochelys coriacea)
Hawksbills