ML102640553

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary for August 2010

ML102640553
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/04/2010
From:	Weege S Inwater Research Group
To:	Koperski M State of FL, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML102640553 (5)

Text

1 Balsam, Briana From: Stephen Weege [steveweege@yahoo.com]

Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 3:38 PM To: Meghan Koperski Cc: Mike Bresette; Dave Clark; Ken Frehafer; Jodie Gless; Bob Hoffman; Ed Hollowell; RidsNrrDlr Resource; Vince Munne; Dave Niebch; Shelley Norton

Subject:

FPL/ St Lucie - August 2010 Marine Turtle Removal Summary Attachments:

August 2010 Marine Turtle Captures.rtf; Mont hly Report Notes 2010.xls; FPL St. Lucie Capture Sumary 2010.xls

Dear Megan,

Attached is the monthly summary of marine turtle re movals for August 2010. In August, Inwater Research Group biologists captured sixteen (16) Caretta caretta and three (3) Chelonia mydas within the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. During the month there were no mortalities and one turtle was transported to a rehabilitation facility. On August 22nd a sub-adult loggerhead was hand captured at the base of the 5-inch barrier net with extensive flipper injuries. The turtle appeared to have been attacked by a shark with 60% of its left front flipper missing and deep lacerations in the right front flipper. This turtle was transported by Marinelife Center staff to their facility in Juno Beach (after consultation with personnel from FWCC). This incident was determined to be non-causal to power plant operation.

Throughout the month of August the temporary barrier net experienced light to moderate loads of algae that entered into the intake canal. Until mid-month, entrainment of jellyfish was also light to moderate in scale. However, a heavy inundation of jellyfish caused the temporary 5-inch barrier net to fail overnight on August 18th. Underwater Engineering Services (UESI) was immediately dispatched to attach additional buoys to the temporary barrier net and begin cleaning. The net was brought above water and cleaning continued the next

day. A helicopter survey was conducted on August 20th which revealed moderate to heavy concentrations of jellyfish up to 5km offshore, extending as far North as Vero Beach. Beginning on August 19th, Inwater Research Group (IRG) biologists increased turtle surveillance and capture efforts by proactive means, such as hand capture and dip netting. IRG also increased monitoring efforts for jellyfish and algae and UESI was dispatched again on August 22nd to clean the 5-inch net. The temporary barrier net failed three more times on the 24th, 25th and 26th. In each instance, the top of the barrier net was pulled down a maximum of one foot below the surface. Consequently, UESI performed net cleanings on a 24-hour basis from the 24th to the 27th and remained "on call" until the 30th (when they performed their last cleaning for the month). Both the 5-inch and 8-inch nets were cleaned. To date, no turtles have been observed beyond the 5-inch barrier net. It appears that this net has effectively kept turtles from moving further down the canal. A permanent fix to this net is expected in 2011.

The tag numbers and morphometric data for all the turtles are attached. Also attached is the spreadsheet of all captures, mortalities, injuries, and causal events delineated by species and month/year to date for 2010. This spreadsheet also tracks fresh scrapes incurred on captured turtles for the current month, as well as the whole year. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Steve Weege Inwater Research Group, Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Dr.

Jensen Beach, FL 34957

Phone: (772) 216-5096 e-mail: sweege@inwater.org

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL AUGUST 2010 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/1/2010 Caretta caretta UUH753/UUH754 52.1 53.9 59.5 55.6 47.9 43.4 25.0 North net 8/3/2010 Caretta caretta UUH755/UUH757 72.0 73.4 79.8 75.5 58.9 56.8 55.9 Hand capture 8/3/2010 Caretta caretta UUH758/UUH759 77.5 79.0 86.8 76.7 63.3 59.9 70.3 Hand capture 8/12/2010 Caretta caretta UUH760/UUH761 78.0 79.3 84.2 76.6 61.3 60.3 63.1 South net 8/12/2010 Caretta caretta UUH762/UUH763 72.3 73.8 79.1 75.3 60.1 56.5 55.5 South net 8/17/2010 Caretta caretta UUH764/UUH765 79.0 80.2 88.1 82.5 63.6 61.4 70.5 Dip net 8/21/2010 Chelonia mydas 1 PIT# 45333F2768 41.1 41.1 44.3 37.3 31.9 33.2 9.5 Dip net 8/21/2010 Caretta caretta UUH766/UUH767 60.5 62.7 68.5 66.0 56.2 50.6 37.2 Dip net 8/21/2010 Chelonia mydas 2 UUH768 43.4 43.6 46.4 42.8 34.9 36.5 11.4 Dip net 8/21/2010 Caretta caretta UUH769/UUH770 59.5 61.6 67.3 62.7 50.4 45.8 32.3 Dip net 8/21/2010 Caretta caretta 3 UUH771/UUH772 77.6 78.7 85.2 76.0 60.4 59.4 61.6 Hand capture 8/22/2010 Caretta caretta 4 STSSN# 83.1 83.8 89.4 83.6 66.8 66.3 81.6 Hand capture STW100822-01 8/22/2010 Caretta caretta UUH773/UUH774 63.6 65.2 70.5 72.0 59.6 52.5 40.1 North net 8/23/2010 Caretta caretta 5 UUH 775/UUH776 95.5 98.6 104.0 93.9 72.7 78.1 124.9 South net 8/24/2010 Caretta caretta UUH777/UUH778 64.0 65.1 70.6 66.3 53.2 51.1 40.2 South net Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 8/27/2010 Chelonia mydas 6 UUH612 48.2 48.7 51.5 45.4 37.4 40.8 16.7 Hand capture 8/27/2010 Caretta caretta UUH779/UUH780 61.2 61.4 66.1 62.3 50.7 46.8 30.4 Hand capture 8/27/2010 Caretta caretta 7 UUH781/UUH782 84.3 85.6 94.3 85.0 66.4 65.2 80.6 Hand capture 8/27/2010 Caretta caretta UUH784/UUH785 57.7 58.8 65.0 63.9 52.1 45.2 30.4 Hand capture

NOTES

1.Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/9/05, 9/23/05, 10/29/05, 2/2/06, 4/29/06, 6/26/06, 8/16/06, 1/2/07, 10/11/07, 12/5/07, 4/11/08, 4/16/09, 5/29/09, 9/14/09.2.Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/5/04.

3.Strange Tag (PIT Tag #502D46644E). Source of tag yet to be determined.

4.Rehab. Turtle was found in fair condition when hand captured from the intake canal by IRG biologists. Turtle was missing 60% of left front flipper and had deep lacerations in right front flipper, possibly from a recent shark

attack. Transported to the Marine Life Center (MLC) by MLC staff. Not causal to power plant operation.

5.Adult Female. Tail length=224mm 6.Recapture. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/23/04, 8/11/06, 8/23/06, 9/30/06, 3/6/07, 8/19/07, 12/3/07, 1/14/08, 2/21/08, 3/19/08, 5/5/08, 5/31/08, 7/7/08, 9/17/08, 11/30/08, 1/26/09, 4/10/09, 4/19/09, 6/24/09, 1/11/10, 3/31/10, 6/5/10.

7.Adult Female. Tail length=186mm 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-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateCaptures16 241 3 359 0 0 0 2 0 7 19 609 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 1 5 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 Fresh ScrapesAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateAug-10 Year to DateNone2 31 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 54Minor11 169 3 269 0 0 0 1 0 6 14 445Moderate3 41 0 66 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 109Severe0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 18.8%17.0%0.0%18.4%#DIV/0!#DIV/0!#DIV/0!50.0%#DIV/0!14.3%15.8%17.9%LoggerheadsGreen turtles (Caretta caretta)(Chelonia mydas)Overall Totals Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii)(Eretmochelys imbricata)(Dermochelys coriacea)HawksbillsLeatherbacks