ML22103A188
| ML22103A188 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 04/12/2022 |
| From: | Weege S Inwater Research Group |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML22103A188 (7) | |
Text
From: Steve Weege <sweege@inwater.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2022 2:57 PM To: Koperski, Meghan Cc: Eldridge, Jodie; Ken_Frehafer@fpl.com; Marine Turtle Permits; Michael Bresette; EndangeredSpecies Resource; SCO@dep.state.fl.us; Vince Munne; Eaton, Kristin; William Nurnberger; audra.livergood@noaa.gov; Sciscente, Richard; Seth.Duston@fpl.com; Cody Mott; Jguertin
Subject:
[External_Sender] March 2022 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Attachments: March 2022 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf; Monthly Report Notes 2022.pdf; FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2022.pdf Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469
Subject:
Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary March 2022
Dear Meghan,
Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for March 2022. This month we captured seven Caretta caretta, five Chelonia mydas, and one Lepidochelys kempii in the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. One sea turtle was sent for rehabilitation (non-causal) and there was one causal mortality in March. 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.
One sea turtle was sent to rehab for non-causal injuries this month. On March 16th, an emaciated and lethargic adult male loggerhead was recovered from the primary barrier net. The turtle had a recent shark bite injury to the base of its right front flipper resulting in a large open wound. It was taken to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton for rehab. Because the injury/illness was unrelated to the power plant, this was classified as a non-causal stranding.
On March 14th, a fresh dead subadult Kemp's ridley was found lying against the bottom of the 5-inch barrier net (not entangled). The turtle was emaciated and missing its left eye from an old, healed injury.
Furthermore, the turtle had extensive flipper and carapace damage, also from old, healed injuries. In accordance with protocol, it was held on ice for necropsy and final causality was determined by a licensed veterinarian. Despite being severely compromised, this turtle was determined to have drowned and was therefore deemed causal.
Under the direction of FPL, Underwater Engineering Services (UESI) replaced the primary 5-inch barrier net in March. The new Dyneema rope barrier net was placed atop the old net, prior to its removal, in order to minimize the chance of turtles progressing beyond the barrier. Inwater Research Group (IRG) biologists then provided 24-hour surveillance and support during the net replacement process.
The primary 5-inch barrier net encountered severe amounts of algae this past month. IRG performed around-the-clock monitoring of the intake canal and barrier net system either as warranted by sufficiently high debris intrusion levels or whenever directed by FPL oversight personnel. Furthermore,
UESI divers inspected and cleaned the 5-inch barrier net as needed. 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 2022. 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: 1594 Mail Envelope Properties (CAOA4+R+igS32pXEgvAYNefhxXYyN-NjXKEXO3FX0HETLtXzUcg)
Subject:
[External_Sender] March 2022 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Sent Date: 4/12/2022 2:56:38 PM Received Date: 4/12/2022 2:57:15 PM From: Steve Weege Created By: sweege@inwater.org Recipients:
"Eldridge, Jodie" <Jodie.Eldridge@nexteraenergy.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 "Eaton, Kristin" <Kristin.Eaton@fpl.com>
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 "Cody Mott" <cmott@inwater.org>
Tracking Status: None "Jguertin" <jguertin@inwater.org>
Tracking Status: None "Koperski, Meghan" <Meghan.Koperski@myfwc.com>
Tracking Status: None Post Office: mail.gmail.com Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 3351 4/12/2022 2:57:15 PM March 2022 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf 84432 Monthly Report Notes 2022.pdf 68040 FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2022.pdf 85118 Options Priority: Normal
Return Notification: No Reply Requested: No Sensitivity: Normal Expiration Date:
MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL MARCH 2022 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 3/9/2022 Caretta caretta FFE582/FFE581 65.1 66.6 69.9 64.5 53.3 50.0 39.7 North net 3/12/2022 Chelonia mydas 1 FFE423/FFE424 39.7 40.0 41.7 35.1 31.6 32.3 7.5 Hand capture 3/12/2022 Caretta caretta 2 KKL0681/KKL0680 62.6 64.4 68.4 64.4 54.5 47.0 36.0 Hand capture 3/14/2022 Lepidochelys 3 STW220314-001 54.5 55.1 56.2 65.4 58.4 42.3 21.0 Barrier net kempii 3/16/2022 Chelonia mydas 4 FFE583/FFE584 47.5 48.0 49.3 42.0 37.5 39.6 13.9 North net 3/16/2022 Chelonia mydas 5 KKL0843/KKL0844 57.2 57.4 59.0 54.1 47.1 47.4 24.6 South net 3/16/2022 Caretta caretta 6 WEC220316-001 84.0 84.2 86.7 75.5 61.8 70.5 Barrier net 3/17/2022 Chelonia mydas 7 KKG101 52.8 53.0 55.3 50.3 41.2 43.4 19.5 North net 3/18/2022 Caretta caretta FFE585/FFE586 74.5 75.8 77.0 74.5 63.9 60.7 68.5 South net 3/19/2022 Chelonia mydas FFE587/FFE588 63.1 63.3 64.7 54.4 48.6 51.1 27.4 South net 3/21/2022 Caretta caretta FFE589/FFE590 50.6 51.1 55.0 53.1 46.5 39.8 22.1 South net 3/29/2022 Caretta caretta FFE591/FFE592 69.2 70.2 73.5 67.5 57.3 56.5 52.3 North net 3/30/2022 Caretta caretta FFE593/FFE594 73.4 74.7 77.7 74.8 61.2 58.1 57.2 North net
NOTES
- 1. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/15/21, 10/31/21, 12/10/21, 1/21/22, 2/7/22, and 3/12/22.
- 2. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/23/19, 12/15/19, 1/19/20, 7/24/20, 3/3/21, 6/8/21, 8/11/21, 10/19/21, and 3/12/22.
- 3. DEAD (CAUSAL MORTALITY). Stranding# STW220314-001. Fresh dead subadult Kemp's ridley found lying against the bottom the 5-inch barrier net (not entangled). The turtle was emaciated. Also missing its left eye from an old healed injury. Turtle was missing a portion of its marginals on each side of posterior carapace (healed). Missing 40% of its left front flipper (healed). Held on ice for necropsy and final causality determination from a licensed veterinarian. Despite being severely compromised, the turtle was determined to have drowned and was therefore deemed causal.
- 4. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/19/18, 5/24/18, 11/5/18, 3/1/20, 7/27/20, 9/22/20, 12/30/20, and 3/16/22.
- 5. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/12/18, 10/5/18, 12/17/18, 9/26/19, 10/22/19, 12/7/19, 1/4/20, 10/7/20, 12/15/20, 1/30/21, and 3/16/22.
- 6. REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding# WEC220316-001. Emaciated and lethargic adult male loggerhead recovered from the surface of the 5-inch barrier net. Turtle had a recent shark bite injury to the base of its right front flipper, leaving a large open wound. Sex determination from tail length (tail extended 21.5cm beyond carapace). No ventral measurements were taken due to the condition of the turtle. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center personnel transported this animal to their facility in Boca Raton for rehab.
- 7. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 7/19/18, 12/10/18, 3/31/19, 12/9/19, 1/7/20, 2/15/20, 5/5/20, 8/11/20, 10/25/20, 1/13/21, 4/22/21, 1/5/22, and 3/17/22.
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 Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Captures 7 25 5 32 0 0 0 0 1 1 13 58 Causal Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 Non-causal Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Causal Injuries 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sent to rehab 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date Mar-22 Date None 3 7 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 Minor 4 18 3 27 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 46 Moderate 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Severe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%