ML17249A073

[External_Sender] August 2017 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report

ML17249A073
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/03/2017
From:	Weege S - No Known Affiliation
To:	Koperski M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML17249A073 (9)

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

Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2017 2:02 PM To: Meghan Koperski Cc:Ed Hollowell; Jodie Gless; John Jones; Ken Frehafer; Marine Turtle Permit; Michael Bresette; EndangeredSpecies Resource; SCO@dep.state.fl.us; Vince Munne; Cody Mott;

Jeff Guertin; Ryan Welsh; debbie.spring@no aa.gov; Eaton, Kristin; Jonathan Gorham; Terri.Taylor@fpl.com; William.Nurnberger@fpl.com; Audra Livergood - NOAA Federal

Subject:

[External_Sender] August 2017 FPL Mari ne Turtle Removal Monthly Report Attachments:

August 2017 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf; Mo nthly 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 August 2017

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for August 2017. This month, we captured sixteen (16) Caretta caretta in the intake canal of the St. Luci e power plant on Hutchinson Island. Two sea turtles were sent for rehabilitation and there were no mortalities recorded during the month of August. 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. Two debilitated loggerheads were sent for rehabilitation this month. On August 17th, a subadult loggerhead was removed from the permanent 5-inch ba rrier net in poor condition. The turtle was underweight and lethargic. It also had a small 4 cm gash under its right flipper. On August 21st, another subadult loggerhead was removed from the permanent 5-inch barrier net. This second turtle was emaciated and lethargic with a heavy epibiont load. In addition, it was missing 80% of its left rear flipper from an old h ealed injury. After consultation with FWC, Inwater Research Group biologists transported both turtles to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach for rehab. Both strandings were classified as non-causal. The permanent 5-inch barrier net enc ountered moderate-to-severe loads of comb jellies and algae during the month of August. Unlike the small gelatinous comb jellies , or ctenophores, algae can readily interfere with the operation of the power plant by restri cting access to sufficient quantities of clean cooling water. As such, Inwater Research Group biologists performed around-the-clock monitoring of the intake canal and barrier net system either as warranted by suffici ently high debris intrusion levels or whenever directed by FPL oversight personnel. Furthermore, Underwater E ngineering Services was dispatched several times in order to clean the 2primary 5-inch and A-1-A barrier nets of all accumulated algae and debris. Overall, the barrier net has performed as designed and no turtles have been observed beyond the 5-inch net this month. 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 mo rtalities 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

Hearing Identifier: NRR_PMDA Email Number: 3711 Mail Envelope Properties (CAJrYmh9U3RSDyKKOxaCH=zEL6LMGcuULE590TwheJVkC+C2kVQ)

Subject:

[External_Sender] August 2017 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Sent Date: 9/3/2017 2:02:15 PM Received Date: 9/3/2017 2:02:22 PM 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 "John Jones" <John.Jones@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 "Terri.Taylor@fpl.com" <Terri.Taylor@fpl.com> 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 3162 9/3/2017 2:02:22 PM August 2017 Marine Turtle Captures.pdf 70585 Monthly Report Notes 2017.pdf 54669 FPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2017.pdf 74126 Power Plant Causal Turtles.pdf 83707 Options Priority: Standard Return Notification: No Reply Requested: No Sensitivity: Normal Expiration Date: Recipients Received:

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL AUGUST 2017 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/3/2017 Caretta caretta MML426 79.7 81.2 87.6 75.4 59.9 57.9 76.6 South net 8/3/2017 Caretta caretta MML427/MML428 64.6 66.2 68.9 65.9 55.0 49.2 36.2 Hand capture 8/7/2017 Caretta caretta 1 MML429/MML430 85.0 85.8 93.1 86.5 66.2 64.1 96.0 North net 8/8/2017 Caretta caretta MML431/MML432 45.1 46.3 49.0 47.3 39.7 36.8 14.9 North net 8/16/2017 Caretta caretta 2 MML433/MML434 86.3 87.0 92.5 85.5 69.5 66.2 95.2 South net 8/17/2017 Caretta caretta 3 CRM170817-01 66.8 67.6 71.9 69.4 55.0 50.4 40.2 Barrier net 8/17/2017 Caretta caretta MML435/MML436 67.5 69.6 73.9 68.0 58.4 55.7 44.5 North net 8/21/2017 Caretta caretta 4 CRM170821-01 60.6 62.8 65.8 63.4 50.4 47.1 30.1 Barrier net 8/21/2017 Caretta caretta MML437/MML438 68.9 70.1 75.0 71.3 60.2 55.7 51.5 South net 8/21/2017 Caretta caretta MML439/MML440 65.3 66.8 70.4 67.7 54.4 52.0 40.2 North net 8/22/2017 Caretta caretta 5 MMA575/MMA576 63.7 64.7 69.6 67.6 53.9 49.6 36.9 South net 8/22/2017 Caretta caretta MML441/MML442 80.8 82.4 87.6 79.9 63.7 64.0 79.1 North net 8/24/2017 Caretta caretta 6 MML376/MML377 56.5 57.8 61.4 58.0 49.1 44.6 30.5 South net 8/24/2017 Caretta caretta MML443/MML444 71.9 73.6 79.3 71.9 54.3 53.7 53.0 North net 8/25/2017 Caretta caretta MML445/MML446 82.2 83.2 88.1 80.3 64.2 63.7 86.8 North net Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/28/2017 Caretta caretta 7 MML447/MML448 88.5 89.4 94.9 84.9 66.9 68.0 105.4 South net NOTES

1.Adult female. Tail length = 220 mm.

2.Adult female. Tail length = 205 mm. Minor healed flipper and carapace damage.

3.REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding #CRM170817-01. Subadult loggerhead removed from the permanent 5-inch barrier net. Underweight and lethargic. Turtle had a 4 cm gash between skin of right inguinal area and marginals. Inwater Research Group biologists transported the turtle to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) in Juno Beach for rehab.

4.REHAB (NON-CAUSAL). Stranding #CRM170821-01. Subadult loggerhead removed from the permanent 5-inch barrier net. Emaciated and lethargic; Heavy epibiont load. Turtle missing 80% of left rear flipper (healed). Turtle was taken to LMC for rehab.

5.RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/9/16, 5/11/17, 6/4/17, 6/19/17, 6/30/17, 7/23/17, and 8/22/17.

6.RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 7/14/17, and 8/24/17.

7.Adult female. Tail length = 205 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 Aug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateCaptures16 168 0 38 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 206 Causal Mortalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Non-Causal Mortalities 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Causal Injuries 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sent to Rehab 2 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 Fresh ScrapesAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateAug-17 Year to DateNone1 17 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 23Minor15 142 0 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 172Moderate0 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11Severe0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent with Mod/Sev Scrapes 0.0%5.4%N/A 5.3%N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.0%5.3%LoggerheadsGreen turtles (Caretta caretta)(Chelonia mydas)Overall Totals Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)(Eretmochelys imbricata)(Dermochelys coriacea)HawksbillsLeatherbacks 2004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016**2017 Injury/MortalityTotalsbySpecies TotalCaptures6234844192274202602953022323022752743161684,597 Injuries01*3011001100008 Mortalities10*210001000001024 TotalCaptures286428267101299161444217127197134181159383,039 Injuries0370221000000015 Mortalities1111203122040018 TotalCaptures2011012022021014 Injuries000000000000000 Mortalities000000000000000 TotalCaptures1330207000276031 Injuries000000000000000 Mortalities000000000000000 TotalCaptures2221423212314029 Injuries000000000000000 Mortalities000000000000000253215351330410659149176923307254247515213625034144654862067,710

• Theloggerheadcausalinjuriesandmortalitiesin2006wereallhatchlings.

• • 2017isapartialyear.StLuciePowerPlantCausalTurtles TotalCapturesperYear Loggerhead Green Leatherback Kemp'sRidley Hawksbill Injury&MortalityYearlyTotals