ML13008A096

NRR E-mail Capture - December 2012 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report

ML13008A096
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	01/05/2013
From:	Weege S - No Known Affiliation
To:	Koperski M Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML13008A096 (10)

Text

NRR-PMDAPEm Resource From: Stephen Weege [steveweege@yahoo.com]

Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 1:49 PM To: Meghan Koperski Cc: Mike Bresette; Dave Clark; EndangeredSpecies Resource; Ken Frehafer; Jodie Gless; Ed Hollowell; MTP@MyFWC.com; Vince Munne; Dave Niebch; Shelley Norton; SCO@dep.state.fl.us

Subject:

December 2012 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Attachments: December 2012 Marine Turtle Captures.rtf; Monthly Report Notes 2012.pdf; FPL St Lucie Capture Summary 2012.pdf Mrs. Meghan Koperski Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Highway Tequesta, FL 33469

Subject:

Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Summary December 2012

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for December 2012. This month, we captured twenty-eight (28) Caretta caretta and thirty-four (34) Chelonia mydas in the intake canal of the St.

Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island. There was one sea turtle mortality in the month of December; no sea turtles were sent for rehabilitation.

On December 9th, a juvenile green turtle was found dead on the temporary 5-inch barrier net in the morning.

This turtle had a good body condition and no salient wounds or abnormalities. The turtle appeared to have drowned during entrainment. The preliminary determination by Inwater Research Group (IRG) biologists, after consultation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was that this incident was causal to power plant operations (pending necropsy). The animal was then placed on ice and transported by IRG staff to Nancy Mettee, DVM for necropsy. The gross necropsy findings were consistent with forced submergence as the likely cause of death. Consequently, this incident remained causal to power plant operations.

Throughout the month, the 5-inch barrier net experienced light loads of algae and jellyfish that entered into the intake canal system. Underwater Engineering Services completed post-outage maintenance and cleaning of the 5-inch and 8-inch barrier nets during the first week of December. Overall, the temporary barrier net has performed as designed and no turtles have been observed beyond the 5-inch net. To date, Florida Power &

Light continues to work towards the installation of a permanent 5-inch barrier net.

The tag numbers and morphometric data for all turtles captured during the month have been included (see attachments/addendums). Also included is a spreadsheet for all captures, mortalities, injuries, and causal events delineated by species and by month for the year 2012. In addition, this spreadsheet also 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, 1

Steve Steve Weege Sr. Environmental Specialist Inwater Research Group, Inc.

4160 NE Hyline Dr.

Jensen Beach, FL 34957 sweege@inwater.org (772) 349-7252 2

Hearing Identifier: NRR_PMDA Email Number: 571 Mail Envelope Properties (1357411734.51395.YahooMailNeo)

Subject:

December 2012 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Sent Date: 1/5/2013 1:48:54 PM Received Date: 1/5/2013 1:49:13 PM From: Stephen Weege Created By: steveweege@yahoo.com Recipients:

"Mike Bresette" <mbresette@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "Dave Clark" <dclark@inwater.org>

Tracking Status: None "EndangeredSpecies Resource" <EndangeredSpecies.Resource@nrc.gov>

Tracking Status: None "Ken Frehafer" <Ken_Frehafer@FPL.com>

Tracking Status: None "Jodie Gless" <Jodie_Gless@FPL.com>

Tracking Status: None "Ed Hollowell" <Ed_Hollowell@FPL.com>

Tracking Status: None "MTP@MyFWC.com" <MTP@MyFWC.com>

Tracking Status: None "Vince Munne" <vince.munne@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Dave Niebch" <david_niebch@fpl.com>

Tracking Status: None "Shelley Norton" <Shelley.Norton@NOAA.gov>

Tracking Status: None "SCO@dep.state.fl.us" <SCO@dep.state.fl.us>

Tracking Status: None "Meghan Koperski" <Meghan.Koperski@MyFWC.com>

Tracking Status: None Post Office: web122605.mail.ne1.yahoo.com Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 2525 1/5/2013 1:49:13 PM December 2012 Marine Turtle Captures.rtf 177452 Monthly Report Notes 2012.pdf 80455 FPL St Lucie Capture Summary 2012.pdf 113753 Options Priority: Standard Return Notification: No Reply Requested: No Sensitivity: Normal Expiration Date:

Recipients Received:

MARINE TURTLE REMOVALS ST. LUCIE PLANT INTAKE CANAL DECEMBER 2012 Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/1/2012 Caretta caretta BBR473/BBR474 71.8 73.3 78.5 72.3 61.1 56.9 50.2 North net 12/2/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167775191 26.8 27.0 28.7 23.3 20.8 22.5 2.2 Dip net 12/2/2012 Chelonia mydas BBR475/BBR476 36.1 36.5 38.4 32.4 28.3 29.2 6.1 South net 12/2/2012 Chelonia mydas BBR477 29.3 29.4 31.0 25.8 23.0 23.7 3.3 Dip net 12/3/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167778133 28.8 29.1 30.4 25.9 22.8 24.4 2.8 Dip net 12/3/2012 Caretta caretta BBR478/BBR479 65.9 67.0 73.0 67.7 55.4 52.5 41.8 North net 12/3/2012 Caretta caretta 1 BBR480/BBR481 78.9 79.7 85.2 77.6 62.9 61.3 74.0 North net 12/3/2012 Caretta caretta BBR482/BBR483 76.2 76.6 84.0 77.0 60.5 57.5 53.6 North net 12/3/2012 Caretta caretta BBR484/BBR485 70.8 72.6 78.0 72.9 57.5 54.0 51.8 Dip net 12/4/2012 Chelonia mydas BBR486/BBR487 55.6 57.7 60.9 53.1 44.6 46.9 23.4 North net 12/6/2012 Chelonia mydas 2 BBR253/BBR254 41.2 41.7 44.5 36.4 31.8 35.2 9.6 North net 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167827320 26.2 26.6 28.3 24.9 22.2 22.3 2.4 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas 3 BBP394/BBR499 53.4 53.9 57.0 49.1 39.6 43.7 20.0 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Caretta caretta BBR488/BBR489 60.0 61.4 65.4 64.5 53.8 47.7 32.4 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Caretta caretta BBR490/BBR491 63.0 64.0 68.7 66.4 57.3 48.2 37.9 Hand capture

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas 4 BBR492/BBR493 46.0 46.5 51.0 42.0 34.2 36.9 12.3 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas 5 BBR494 37.7 37.9 40.3 33.0 29.4 31.1 6.8 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Caretta caretta BBR495/BBR496 73.4 74.6 79.0 72.8 60.3 55.4 55.3 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Caretta caretta BBR497/BBR498 57.5 58.2 62.2 61.0 49.6 46.3 28.6 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas BBR500 29.1 29.3 30.9 27.0 23.5 24.4 3.3 Hand capture 12/7/2012 Chelonia mydas 6 EEA101 45.6 46.0 48.4 44.5 38.3 38.5 13.3 Hand capture 12/9/2012 Chelonia mydas 7 EEA102/EEA103 45.5 45.5 47.5 40.9 33.2 37.1 10.8 South net 12/9/2012 Chelonia mydas 8 STW121209-01 33.1 33.4 36.2 30.1 26.6 27.0 4.6 Barrier net 12/11/2012 Chelonia mydas 9 BBR447 30.7 31.1 32.9 29.4 26.3 25.9 3.5 Hand capture 12/11/2012 Chelonia mydas EEA104 30.5 30.8 35.5 29.1 25.3 24.5 3.8 Dip net 12/11/2012 Chelonia mydas 10 EEA105 38.6 39.1 41.6 35.9 31.3 31.7 7.4 Hand capture 12/11/2012 Caretta caretta EEA106/EEA107 61.3 62.6 67.1 65.2 54.2 48.8 38.3 Hand capture 12/11/2012 Caretta caretta EEA108/EEA109 57.8 59.0 63.8 61.0 50.9 47.6 30.7 Hand capture 12/11/2012 Caretta caretta EEA110/EEA111 70.6 73.0 78.8 83.3 63.2 55.9 57.2 Hand capture 12/11/2012 Caretta caretta EEA112/EEA113 60.9 62.2 66.7 63.3 53.0 47.9 32.8 Hand capture 12/12/2012 Chelonia mydas 11 BBR273/BBR274 46.6 46.9 49.6 43.6 37.8 38.5 13.4 Hand capture 12/12/2012 Caretta caretta EEA114/EEA115 55.4 57.1 62.5 60.5 49.1 44.7 28.9 Hand capture 12/12/2012 Caretta caretta EEA116/EEA117 65.9 67.0 73.2 67.4 56.0 51.3 43.6 Hand capture 12/12/2012 Caretta caretta EEA118/EEA119 60.8 61.7 66.9 66.7 53.6 48.2 36.6 Hand capture 12/12/2012 Chelonia mydas 12 EEA120/EEA121 57.0 58.1 61.8 54.2 44.3 48.0 26.8 Hand capture

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/14/2012 Chelonia mydas 13 BBR112/BBR113 44.9 45.3 47.8 43.1 35.8 36.7 10.8 South net 12/14/2012 Chelonia mydas 14 EEA122/EEA123 42.5 43.6 45.7 37.6 33.0 34.8 8.8 South net 12/15/2012 Chelonia mydas 15 EEA124 59.0 59.3 62.5 56.0 45.8 49.3 27.8 South net 12/16/2012 Chelonia mydas 16 EEA125/EEA126 56.0 56.2 59.6 55.7 45.4 45.5 23.2 South net 12/17/2012 Chelonia mydas 17 BBP073/EEA129 60.3 60.9 64.8 54.5 44.1 47.9 27.5 South net 12/17/2012 Chelonia mydas 18 BBP303 45.0 45.3 48.0 39.6 33.9 36.5 10.4 South net 12/17/2012 Caretta caretta EEA127/EEA128 64.9 66.4 70.1 68.7 56.1 51.0 44.5 North net 12/18/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167776546 27.1 27.4 28.9 25.4 22.7 22.7 2.9 North net 12/18/2012 Chelonia mydas 19 BBR111 45.7 46.0 49.4 42.6 36.4 38.8 11.8 North net 12/18/2012 Caretta caretta EEA130/EEA131 68.4 70.3 75.5 73.8 57.6 53.2 50.3 North net 12/19/2012 Chelonia mydas 20 982000167774696 27.3 27.8 29.2 27.4 23.5 23.3 3.1 Dip net 12/19/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167792079 26.5 26.6 29.8 25.1 20.0 22.0 2.2 South net 12/20/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167774571 30.7 30.7 33.0 28.7 24.0 26.2 4.0 Hand capture 12/20/2012 Chelonia mydas 21 EEA132/EEA133 49.3 49.6 52.5 45.9 38.7 39.8 14.7 South net 12/20/2012 Caretta caretta EEA134/EEA135 55.3 56.3 59.8 56.9 46.3 43.4 26.5 Hand capture 12/23/2012 Caretta caretta EEA136/EEA137 61.7 63.0 67.2 65.5 54.0 50.5 35.2 South net 12/23/2012 Caretta caretta EEA138/EEA139 63.0 64.0 67.1 65.5 52.6 50.2 33.4 North net 12/26/2012 Caretta caretta EEA140/EEA141 66.0 67.0 72.5 68.6 57.2 49.5 39.7 North net 12/27/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000167796469 29.6 29.9 32.2 26.5 23.4 24.8 3.4 Dip net 12/27/2012 Chelonia mydas 982000190652391 29.5 30.0 31.6 27.5 23.9 24.6 3.5 Dip net

Date Species Note Tag #'s SMCL SSCL CSCL CMCW SMCW SMPL Weight Method (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm) (kg) 12/27/2012 Caretta caretta EEA142/EEA143 64.5 65.1 72.0 72.1 54.1 50.3 42.2 Hand capture 12/27/2012 Caretta caretta EEA144/EEA145 63.5 64.0 68.5 63.3 52.8 49.7 39.9 Hand capture 12/27/2012 Caretta caretta EEA146/EEA147 51.0 51.9 56.2 56.0 45.3 41.0 24.1 Hand capture 12/27/2012 Caretta caretta EEA148/EEA149 65.2 66.2 70.9 66.2 55.1 50.1 39.2 Hand capture 12/28/2012 Caretta caretta 22 EEA150 77.6 78.1 81.4 76.1 61.0 55.2 70.9 Hand capture 12/29/2012 Caretta caretta EEA151/EEA152 68.0 68.4 75.1 68.2 56.7 52.5 43.4 Hand capture 12/30/2012 Chelonia mydas EEA153/EEA155 46.4 47.4 51.4 43.2 35.5 37.3 13.2 South net

NOTES

1. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/4/02, 9/17/02, 11/5/02, 4/15/03, 7/1/03, 2/16/04, 4/11/05, 6/19/06, 9/16/06, 8/15/07, 8/7/08, 7/28/09, 11/9/09 and 12/3/12. New inconel tags inserted on this capture event.

2. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/4/08, 8/18/09, 9/15/09, 6/20/12, 10/3/12 and 12/6/12.

3. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 11/23/04, 6/21/06, 7/28/06, 9/1/07, 7/8/08, 9/7/08, 10/22/08, 6/15/09, 9/9/10, 11/23/11 and 12/7/12.

New inconel tag inserted today in left front flipper.

4. PAPILLOMAS (Tumor Score=34).

5. PAPILLOMAS (Tumor Score=28). Inconel tag inserted in right front flipper only.

6. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 9/11/06, 3/24/10, 10/20/10, 4/28/11 and 12/7/12. New inconel tag inserted today in right front flipper.

7. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 11/16/09, 5/22/11 and 12/9/12. New inconel tags inserted today.

8. DEAD (CAUSAL MORTALITY). Stranding# STW121209-01. Found dead on 5-inch barrier net in the morning. Good body condition and no wounds or abnormalities. Presumably drowned during entrainment.

The preliminary determination by IRG biologists, after consultation with FWC, is that this incident is causal to power plant operations. Held on ice and brought to Nancy Mettee, DVM for necropsy in accordance with protocol.

9. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 11/3/12 and 12/11/12.

10. PAPILLOMAS (Tumor Score=34). Vision and locomotion unimpeded. Turtle has good body condition and there is evidence of possible tumor regression. Given fresh water bath to kill leeches.

11. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 10/04/07, 10/20/11, 7/21/12 and 12/12/12.

12. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/11/04, 9/13/05, 4/26/06, 7/16/06, 12/3/07, 2/1/08, 4/23/08, 9/2/08, 10/15/08, 11/12/08, 6/9/11 and 12/12/12. New inconel tags inserted today. Multiple deep moderate fresh scrapes on head (skull exposed).

13. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/11/12, 5/6/12, 7/21/12, 12/14/12.

14. PAPILLOMAS (Tunor Score=36). Turtle very active.

15. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/8/01, 5/3/05, 5/9/05, 7/7/05, 5/16/06, 8/23/06, 9/12/06, 10/30/06, 4/26/07, 4/12/08, 8/5/08, 1/26/09, 4/22/09, 12/15/09, 11/18/11, 12/15/12. New inconel tag inserted in right front flipper on this capture.

16. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 3/1/04, 11/3/04, 11/21/04, 7/8/05, 8/12/05, 9/13/05, 4/24/06, 9/29/06, 11/19/06, 12/4/06, 12/9/07, 2/10/08, 4/3/08, 9/14/08, 11/26/08, 12/18/08, 12/14/09, 1/11/10, 9/21/10, 7/25/11, 10/13/11, 7/12/12 and 12/16/12.

New inconel tags inserted today.

17. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 8/7/05, 8/30/05, 8/6/06, 9/19/06, 8/29/07, 4/30/08, 1/26/09, 10/1/09, 2/13/10, 3/27/10, 7/19/11, 10/4/11, 12/14/11 and 12/17/12. New inconel tag inserted today in LFF.

18. 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 and 12/17/12. Deep fresh scrapes on head and plastron (classified as moderate).Skull exposed from scrape to head. Extra photos taken of moderate fresh scrapes.

19. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 4/10/12 and 12/18/12. PAPILLOMAS (Tumor Score=3). Two small tumors (less than 1cm each) at the insertion point for the left front flipper tag.

20. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 11/29/12 and 12/19/12.

21. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 12/23/09, 3/23/10, 9/22/10, 1/31/11, 10/13/11, 11/17/11 and 12/20/12 New inconel tags inserted on this capture event. Moderate fresh scrape on left side of tomium.

22. RECAPTURE. Turtle was removed from the intake canal, tagged and released at Hutchinson Island on 5/30/89, 9/6/90, 10/11/90, 10/15/90, 2/23/91, 8/10/92, 8/27/92, 9/21/92, 1/6/93, 6/8/93, 12/29/93, 3/22/94, 10/31/94, 3/17/95, 4/20/95, 2/7/96, 4/7/96, 7/11/96, 7/23/96, 7/29/96, 9/22/96, 10/9/96, 6/13/97, 5/15/98, 4/15/00, 6/13/00, 9/8/00, 11/19/00, 11/15/01, 9/16/02, 4/30/03, 11/24/03, 3/31/04, 9/15/04, 10/25/04, 8/10/05, 8/16/06, 4/30/08, 9/26/08, 8/19/09 and 12/28/12. New inconel tag inserted today in RFF.

Adult male (sex determination based on tail length). Tail length = 464 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

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 Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Captures 28 232 34 127 0 1 0 2 0 0 62 362 Causal Mortalities 0 0 1 2 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 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Sent to rehab 0 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Fresh Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Year to Scrapes Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date Dec-12 Date None 3 44 4 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 62 Minor 22 165 25 96 0 0 0 2 0 0 47 263 Moderate 3 23 5 13 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 37 Severe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent with mod/sev scrapes 10.7% 9.9% 14.7% 10.2% N/A 100.0% N/A 0.0% N/A N/A 12.9% 10.2%