ML25273A095

August 2025 Monthly Sea Turtle Capture Report

ML25273A095
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/08/2025
From:	Munne V Florida Power & Light Co
To:	Koperski M Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, State of FL, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
References
Download: ML25273A095 (1)

Text

Ms. Meghan Koperski FWC Imperiled Species Mgmt.

Tequesta Field Office 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, Florida 33469 September 8, 2025 RE:

ST. LUCIE POWER PLANT CONDITION IX.C.1, MARINE TURTLE AUTHORIZATION

Dear Ms. Koperski,

Enclosed please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for the St. Lucie Power Plant for the month of August 2025. These activities were performed under FWCC Marine Turtle Permit# MTP-125 maintained by lnwater Research Group Inc., as required by Site Certification Condition IX.C.1.

The enclosure includes:

1) Email to Meghan Koperski Regarding Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary

2) Marine Turtle Removals

3) Capture Notes

4) Capture Summary Table If you should have any questions, please contact Aaron Garstin at (201) 301-4563.

Sincere!~

. {______

I Vince Munne Land Utilization Supervisor St. Lucie Plant

Enclosure:

Monthly Summary of Marine Turtle Removals cc: FDEP Siting Office Florida Power & Light Company 6501 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach, FL 34957

Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469

Subject:

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary August 2025 lnwater Research Group, Inc.

A 501(cX3) nonprofit organization Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for August 2025. This month we captured 31 Caretto caretta and 12 Chelonia mydas in the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. Four sea turtles were sent for rehabilitation (non-causal), and there were no recorded mortalities this month. As with all sea turtle strandings at the St. Lucie Plant, the Flmida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was consulted, and stranding forms were filed with the state through the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. In addition, one smalltooth sawfish was entrained into the intake canal during August.

Four sea turtles were sent to rehab for non-causal injuries this month. On August 3rd, a subadult loggerhead sea turtle was recovered from the south tangle net with a healing 12 cm diameter hole in its carapace. On August 20th, a subadult loggerhead sea turtle was recovered via dipnet with a healing boat strike across the posterior portion of the carapace. On August 27th, an adult female loggerhead sea turtle was recovered from the south tangle net with several boat strike wounds to the anterior carapace and head. On August 28th, a subadult loggerhead sea turtle was recovered from the north tangle net with several boat strike wounds to the posterior carapace and tail. These turtles were taken to Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach for rehabilitation. Because these injuries were unrelated to the power plant, they were classified as non-causal strandings.

On August 28thth, a smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) became entangled in the turtle capture nets at the St. Lucie power plant intake canal. Additional resources from IRG and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) were called in to assist with the removal. Removal was completed according to the Smalltooth Sawfish Handling, Transportation, and Release Protocols (FPL 2007). The smalltooth sawfish was an adult male with a total length of 372.0 cm. The fish was considered in good condition. Tissue samples were collected and tags applied by HBOI biologists under NMFS permit 21043. It was successfully released into the ocean adjacent to the intake canal beach access. Thereafter, IRG biologists monitored the three-mile stretch of beach near the release site for any possible delayed impacts on the captured smalltooth sawfish for seven days. The incidental take limit established by the 2022 Biological Opinion set forth by NMFS is three non-lethal capture (take) of U.S. Distinct Population Segment smalltooth sawfish every three years.

lnwater Research Group Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Drive Jensen Beach, FL 34957 www.inwater.org Phone: (772) 349-7252

lnwater Research Group, Inc.

A 501(cX3) nonprofit organization The primary 5-inch barrier net encountered negligible-to-severe amounts of algae and jellyfish 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, Underwater Engineering Services (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 2025. 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,

~

Aaron Garstin Biologist lnwater Research Group, Inc.

agarstin@inwater.org (201) 301-4563 lnwater Research Group Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Drive Jensen Beach, FL 34957 www.inwater.org Phone: (772) 349-7252

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Date Species Note Tag #'s (cm)

(cm)

(cm)

(cm)

(cm)

(cm)

(kg)

Method 8/1/2025 Chelonia mydas 1

CCB586/CCB587 87.9 88.5 93.3 83.8 67.8 73.5 97.8 South Net 8/2/2025 Caretta caretta CCB588/CCB589 79.7 81.4 88.5 82.0 60.6 62.5 82.9 South Net 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 2

CCB493/CCB494 59.9 60.2 64.0 64.2 49.6 47.5 31.1 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 3

CCB559/CCB561 93.5 94.2 68.0 119.6 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 4

CCB590/CCB591 80.3 81.3 88.1 76.4 60.0 63.5 75.1 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 5

CCBS93/CCB592 89.6 90.6 99.5 90.4 68.2 66.8 100.0 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta CCB594/CCB595 68.1 70.1 75.6 69.4 55.0 52.6 46.5 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 6

CCB596/CCB597 82.7 85.0 89.5 80.4 61.1 64.5 81.7 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Chelonia mydas 7

CCB598/CCB599 100.2 100.5 106.5 95.5 81.3 83.7 150.7 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta CCB600/CCB601 68.1 69.5 76.5 72.8 56.0 52.4 48.8 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Chelonia mydas 8

CCB602/CCB603 92.5 92.9 97.0 91.9 76.2 72.0 104.0 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 9

CCB604/CCB606 89.1 89.5 96.5 89.6 72.5 68.4 101.8 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 10 CCB607 /CCB608 76.7 78.0 84.4 78.2 57.8 58.7 72.8 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 11 CCE972/CCE368 94.8 95.4 100.4 94.5 75.5 65.0 134.9 Hand Capture 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 12 FFM961/FFM960 82.2 84.6 90.5 80.4 63.3 63.1 82.0 South Net 8/3/2025 Caretta caretta 13 MMA424/CCP015 94.2 95.2 101.0 95.2 69.4 74.2 116.9 Hand Capture 8/4/2025 Caretta caretta 14 CCB609/CCB610 71.0 74.1 80.5 72.4 58.1 55.1 61.3 South Net 8/4/2025 Chelonia mydas CCB611/CCB612 43.3 43.4 46.8 41.3 35.3 35.6 12.2 South Net 8/5/2025 Caretta caretta 15 CCB614/CCB615 89.7 91.1 97.0 90.3 72.0 70.1 96.9 South Net 8/5/2025 Chelonia mydas 16 CCB616/CCB617 96.8 96.8 102.3 94.4 74.2 76.9 127.2 South Net 8/6/2025 Caretta caretta 17 CCB618/CCB619 108.0 109.4 115.3 102.0 79.2 81.0 156.0 North Net 8/7/2025 Caretta caretta 18 CCB621/CCB623 76.2 77.4 83.9 79.7 60.5 59.7 65.0 South Net 8/8/2025 Caretta caretta CCB624/CCB625 84.0 91.1 78.2 61.2 64.2 79.1 North Net 8/11/2025 Caretta caretta 19 CCP153/CCP154 83.7 84.6 88.5 84.6 67.2 65.0 89.3 North Net 8/13/2025 Caretta caretta CCB626/CCB627 79.5 81.2 87.0 82.7 63.7 61.2 85.7 South Net 8/15/2025 Chelonia mydas 20

/FFV460 57.9 58.2 62.1 55.0 47.1 46.2 24.9 South Net

8/15/2025 Caretta caretta CCB628/CCB629 83.3 84.9 90.8 83.0 67.9 64.1 88.8 South Net 8/17/2025 Caretta caretta 21

/CCB631 84.9 85.9 92.4 83.1 62.9 61.4 77.0 South Net 8/17/2025 Caretta caretta CCB632/CCB633 71.6 73.3 78.7 75.9 60.4 53.9 54.5 South Net 8/18/2025 Caretta caretta CCB634/CCB636 75.6 77.1 78.5 82.8 59.4 59.5 70.0 South Net 8/20/2025 Caretta caretta 22 I

79.7 82.0 86.3 91.7 69.0 112.0 Dip Net 8/20/2025 Caretta caretta 23 CCB637 /CCB638 90.8 91.8 97.1 92.1 70.6 63.2 111.9 South Net 8/20/2025 Chelonia mydas 24 MMX212/

45.9 46.0 50.3 47.1 39.0 38.6 15.4 South Net 8/21/2025 Chelonia mydas CCB639/CCB640 62.2 62.9 67.3 60.1 51.0 51.0 32.0 Dip Net 8/21/2025 Chelonia mydas IRG1102/IRG1103 29.7 30.0 31.4 26.5 24.3 25.0 3.2 Dip Net 8/22/2025 Caretta caretta CCB641/CCB643 65.2 66.4 71.3 68.9 53.1 53.3 40.0 South Net 8/25/2025 Chelonia mydas CCB644/CCB645 32.5 33.3 34.7 29.3 26.0 28.2 4.7 Dip Net 8/25/2025 Caretta caretta CCB646/CCB647 79.8 80.5 89.1 77.5 60.4 61.6 75.5 South Net 8/25/2025 Chelonia mydas 25 CCB648/CCB649 94.2 94.5 99.6 89.6 74.5 75.8 118.8 South Net 8/27/2025 Caretta caretta 26 I

94.8 97.2 107.0 95.5 74.3 126.6 South Net 8/27/2025 Caretta caretta 27 CCB650/CCB651 89.8 92.9 99.3 88.4 66.6 64.5 90.8 South Net 8/27/2025 Chelonia mydas 28 FFV435/FFV436 43.4 43.5 33.6 35.0 10.8 South Net 8/28/2025 Caretta caretta 29 I

72.9 72.9 77.2 75.8 60.9 61.7 74.9 North Net

NOTES

1.

Adult female green. TL= 21.1 cm. Healed notch on left posterior marginals. 30% missing LRF, healed.

2.

RECAPTURE, from: 6/25/25. Satellite tag# 25A0315 286078 applied as a part of BiOp abundance estimate "Ivy".

Release time: 1621 EDT, Release location: 27.3453183, -80.2360886.

3.

Adult male loggerhead. RECAPTURE, from: 5/8/22, 7/16/25. Old healed prop strikes on right side of carapace.

"Ham." Satellite tag active. No ventral measurements, photos or curved dorsal measurements due to satellite tag.

4.

STRANGE TAG. New inconel tags applied to both FFs. Healing wound on left axilla. Photo plate mislabeled as recap instead of strange tag.

5.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 22.0 cm. Lower inconel tag on RFF.

6.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 17.6 cm. RFF inconel tag upside down. PIT tag in LFF. Healing shark bite on RFF, missing 40% distal end of RFF and healing wounds on LFF axilla.

7.

Adult female green. TL= 21.5 cm. 20% LRF missing, healed. 5% RRF missing, healed. Mating wounds on back of neck. Skin nodule on left side of neck, not FP.

8.

Adult male green. TL= 40.9 cm.

9.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 22.1 cm. CCB605 bad tag. Healed notch on right marginals. Hole in RFF.

10.

Adult male loggerhead. TL= 34.7 cm. Undersized male based on tail length.

11.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 29.7 cm. TAG RETURN, documented during saturation tagging project 8/3/25, 8/3/25. STRANGE TAG, originally documented during saturation tagging on 6/10/25, 6/28/25, 7/17/25, 8/2/25.

12.

REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). STSSN#HWB20250803-001. "Sherry". Healing 12 cm diameter hole in carapace. Taken to LMC for rehab. CMCL: 88.6 cm. Released at Juno Beach on 8/14/25. PIT and inconel tags applied by LMC prior to release. Lowest inconel tag in RFF.

13.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 20.0 cm. TAG RETURN, documented during saturation tagging project 7/19/25, 8/4/25. STRANGE TAG. RFF and new PIT applied during saturation tagging on 7/19/25. RECAPTURE, from: 7/2/16. Healed notches on RFF and RRF. Satellite tag# 25A0161 286071 applied as a part of BiOp abundance estimate "Noggin". Release time: 1613 EDT, Release location: 27.3448716, -80.2358342.

14.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 17.0 cm. RECAPTURE, from: 12/12/12, 2/7/14, 9/25/17. Female based on eggs found during ultrasound training. Satellite tag# 25A0187 286076 applied as a part of BiOp abundance estimate "Echo". Release time: 1721 EDT, Release location: 27.352138, -80.239762.

15.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 19.6 cm. CCB613 bad tag. 10% missing LFF, healed.

16.

Adult female green. TL= 24.4 cm. 10% missing LFF, healed. 100% RRF missing, healed.

17.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 28.2 cm. Healed notches on LFF. 15% missing from RFF, healed.

18.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 13.2 cm. STRANGE TAG, originally tagged 6/24/25 during saturation tagging project. Healing wounds ventral neck. Three healing. propeller wounds on left posterior carapace. Verified as female via nesting beach. CCB620, CCB622 bad tags.

19.

Adult female loggerhead. TL= 10.1 cm. STRANGE TAG, originally tagged 7/29/25 during saturation tagging project. Verified as female via nesting beach. Barnacle data collected for Robinson nighttime tagging collab. 10% missing LFF, healed. Two healed notches on left marginal scutes.

20.

RECAPTURE, from 2/2/19, 4/18/23, 8/21/24, 10/16/24, 10/30/24, 11/8/24. Moderate scrape above left eye. 5% missing, healed LFF. Chip in left tomium. Healed notch right marginals proximal RRF. Satellite tag#

25A0095 286088 applied as a part of BiOp abundance estimate "Cola". Release time: 1658 EDT, Release location: 27.35252, -80.23933.

21.

Adult male loggerhead. TL= 35.0 cm. CCB630 bad tag. No inconel tag applied to LFF.

22.

REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). STSSN#HWB20250820-001. Healing 57 cm boat strike to posterior portion of carapace. Pieces of carapace hanging off. Left eye is discolored. Did not flip for ventral measurements or take ventral photo due to injury. Taken to LMC for rehab. CMCL: 83.0 cm.

23.

Adult male loggerhead. TL= 48.0 cm. Healed notches LFF.

24.

RECAPTURE, from: 1/19/18, 8/22/23, 11/17/23, 5/14/24, 6/27/24, 4/28/25, 5/8/25. "Kevin". No new RFF tag due to tag scars. Small, healed notch RRF. Missing, healed notch RFF.

25.

Adult female green. TL= 18.9 cm. 5% missing of RFF, healed. Extra vertebral and costal scute.

26.

Adult female loggerhead. REHAB(NON-CAUSAL). STSSN#. 19cm x 13.5cm carapace collapsed in due to several boat strike wounds to anterior carapace/head, both healing and open wounds. No ventral photos or measurements due to carapace damage. No tags inserted due to rehab. Taken to LMC for rehab. CMCL: 105.8 cm.

27.

Adult male loggerhead. TL= 44.7 cm.

28.

RECAPTURE, from: 10/25/24, 11/7/24, 7/7/25. 5% missing from LRF, healed. No curved measurements due to sat tag. "Denali".

29.

REHAB(NON-CAUSAL). STSSN#. Several boat strike wounds to posterior carapace (32.5, 27.5, and 18.5 cm) and tail, all healing and open wounds. Missing 50% RFF, healed. No tags inserted due to rehab. Taken to LMC for rehab. CMCL: 77.2 cm. Carapace length measurements affected by carapace damage.

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 Olive ridley (Caretta caretta)

(Chelonia (Eretmochelys (Dermochelys (Lepidochelys (Lepidochelys Overall Totals mvdas) imbricata) coriacea) kemoii) olivacea)

Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year to to to to to to to 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date Captures 31 177 12 155 0

1 0

1 0

7 0

0 43 341 Causal 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 Mortalities Non-Causal 0

0 0

2 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

2 Mortalities Causal 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 Injuries Sent to 4

9 0

5 0

0 0

0 0

1 0

0 4

15 rehab Fresh Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year Aug-Year to to to to to to to Scrapes 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date 25 Date None 2

8 0

8 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 2

16 Minor 29 168 11 144 0

1 0

1 0

7 0

0 40 321 Moderate 0

1 1

3 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 1

4 Severe 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 Percent with 0.0%

0.6%

8.3%

1.9%

NA 0.0%

NA 0.0%

NA 0.0%

NA NA 2.3%

1.2%

mod/sev scrapes