ML17223A630

St Lucie Unit 2 Annual Environ Operating Rept, Vol 1 1989

ML17223A630
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Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	12/31/1989
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APPLIEDBIOLOGY,INC.AB-603FLORIDAPOWER&LIGHTCOMPANYST.LUCIEUNIT2ANNUALENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORTVOLUMEI19892968ANORTHDECATURROAD~---'~9g9QQ42i900501QDpcK QGQQQ389PDRADo"PDCRATLANTA,GEORGIA30033~404-296-3900 IIl AB-603FLORIDAPOWER&LIGHTCOMPANYST.LUClEUNlT2ANNUALENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT198SVOLUME1APRIL1990FLORIDAPOWER5LIGHTCOMPANYJUNOBEACH,FLORIDAAPPLIEDBIOLOGY,INC.ATLANTA,GEORGIA IIIIIII ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORTTABLEOFCONTENTSTABLEOFCONVERSION FACTORSFORMETRICUNITSEXECUTIVE SUMMARYIntroduction.

TurtleNestingSurveyIntakeCanalMonitoring OtherRelatedActivities INTRODUCTION

..Background

.AreaDescription.

PlantDescription TURTLESIntroduction

..Materials andMethods.NestingSurvey.IntakeCanalMonitoring

.StudiestoEvaluateand/orMitigateIntakeEntrapment

....,.ResultsandDiscussion.

NestingSurvey.Distribution ofLoggerhead NestsAlongHutchinson Island.Estimates ofTotalLoggerhead NestingonHutchinson IslandTemporalLoggerhead NestingPatternsPredation onLoggerhead TurtleNests.GreenandLeatherback TurtleNesting.IntakeCanalMonitoring

.RelativeAbundance andTemporalDistribution Size-Class Distributions SexRatiosCaptureEfficiencies.

RelativeCondition Mortalities.

Recapture Incidents SummaryLITERATURE CITED.FIGURESTABLESii.Iil.iv.101014141414.19202122242427293132343637.41.4970 I

TABLEOFCONVERSION FACTORSFORMETRICUNITSToconvertcentigrade (degrees) centigrade (degrees) centimeters (cm)centimeters (cm)centimeters/second (cm/sec)cubiccentimeters (cd)grams(g)grams(g)hectares(ha)kilograms (kg)kilograms (kg)kitograms (kg)kilometers (km)kilometers (km)liters(I)liters(I)meters(m)meters(m)meters(m)milligrams (mg)milligrams/liters (mg/I)milliliters (ml)millimeters (mm)millimeters (mm)squarecentimeters (cm)squaremeters(m)squaremillimeters (mm)MultiIb(Cx1.8)+32C+273.183.937x103.281x103.281x101.0x102.205x103.527x1024711.0x102.20463.5274x106.214x101.0x101.0x102.642x103.2813.937x101.0941.0x101.01.0x103.937x103.281x101.550x101.076x101.55x10Toobtainfahrenheit (degrees) kelvin(degrees) inchesfeetfeetpersecondliterspoundsounces(avoirdupois)

'acresgramspoundsounces(avoirdupois) miles(statute) millimeters cubiccentimeters (cd)gallons(USliquid)feetinchesyardsgramspartspermillionliters(USliquid)inchesfeetsquareinchessquarefeetsquareinches I.l EXECUTIVE SUMMARYINTRODUCTION TheSt.LuciePlantisanelectricgenerating stationonHutchinson IslandinSt.LucieCounty,Florida.Theplantconsistsoftwonuclear-fueled 850-MWunits;Unit1wasplacedon-lineinMarch1976andUnit2inMay1983.Thisdocumenthasbeenpreparedtosatisfytherequirements contained intheUnitedStatesNuclearRegulatory Commission's AppendixBEnvironmental Protection Plan(EPP)toSt.LucieUnit2FacilityOperating LicenseNo.NPF-16.Thisreportdiscusses environmental protection activities relatedtoseaturtlesasrequiredbySubsection 4.2oftheEPP.Otherroutineannualreporting requirements areaddressed inVolume2,alsoentitled"St.LucieUnitNo.2AnnualEnvironmental Operating Report."TURTLENESTINGSURVEYTherehavebeenconsiderable year-to-year fluctuations inseaturtlenestingactivityonHutchinson Islandsincemonitoring beganin1971.Lownestingactivityin1975and1981-1983inthevicinityofthepowerplantwasattributed toconstruction ofplantin-takeanddischarge structures.

Nestingreturnedtonormalorabovenormallevelsfol-lowingbothperiodsofconstruction.

Powerplantoperation exclusive ofconstruction hashadnosignificant effectonnestingneartheplant.Datacollected through1989haveshownnolong-term reductions intotalnesting,totalemergences ornestingsuc-cessontheisland.Formalrequirements toconductthisprogramexpiredin1986butwerevoluntarily continued in1989withagreement fromfederalandstateagencies.

fI INTAKECANALMONITORING Sinceplantoperation beganin1976,2,061seaturtles(including 90recaptures) rep-resenting fivedifferent specieshavebeenremovedfromtheintakecanal.Eighty-four percentofthesewereloggerheads.

Differences inthenumbersofturtlesfoundduringdifferent monthsandyearswereattributed tonaturalvariation intheoccurrences ofturtlesinthevicinityoftheplant,ratherthantoanyinfluence oftheplantitself.Themajorityofturtlesremovedfromtheintakecanal(about93percent)werecapturedalive,taggedandreleasedbackintotheocean.TurtlesconfinedbetweentheA1Abar-riernetandintakeheadwalls usuallyresidedinthecanalforarelatively shortperiodoftime,andmostwereingoodtoexcellent condition whencaught.OTHERRELATEDACTIVITIES Studiestoevaluatevariouscoolingwaterintakeseaturtledeterrent systems,asre-quiredbytheNRC'sUnit2Environmental Protection Plan,wereconducted during1982and1983.Resultsandevaluations ofthosestudieswerepresented toregulatory agen-ciesduring1984,andtherequirement isnowconsidered completed.

I INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Thisdocumenthasbeenpreparedtosatisfytherequirements contained intheUnitedStatesNuclearRegulatory Commission's (NRC)AppendixBEnvironmental Protection PlantoSt.LucieUnit2FacilityOperating LicenseNo.NPF-16.In1970,FloridaPower&LightCompany(FPL)wasissuedPermitNo.CPPR-74bytheUnitedStatesAtomicEnergyCommission, nowtheNuclearRegulatory Commis-sion,thatallowedconstruction ofUnit1oftheSt.LuciePlant,an850-MWnuclear-poweredelectricgenerating stationonHutchinson IslandinSt.LucieCounty,Florida.StLuciePlantUnit1wasplacedon-lineinMarch1976.InMay1977,FPLwasissuedPermitNo.CPPR-144bytheNRCfortheconstruction ofasecond850-MWnuclear-poweredunit,Unit2wasplacedon-lineinMay1983andbegancommercial operation inAugustofthatyear.St,LuciePlantUnits1and2usetheAtlanticOceanasasourceofwaterforonce-throughcondenser cooling.Since1971,thepotential environmental effectsresulting fromtheintakeanddischarge ofthiswaterhavebeenthesubjectofFPL-sponsored bioticstudiesatthesite.Baselineenvironmental studiesofthemarineenvironment adjacenttotheSt.LuciePlantweredescribed inaseriesofreportspublished bytheFloridaDepartment ofNaturalResources (Campetal.,1977;FutchandDwinell,1977;Gallagher, 1977;Gal-lagherandHollinger, 1977;WorthandHollinger, 1977;MofflerandVanBreedveld, 4~~ll~

1979;TesterandSteidinger, 1979;Walker,1979;Walkeretal.,1979;WalkerandSteidinger, 1979).TheresultsofUnit1operational andUnit2preoperational bioticmonitoring attheSt.LuciePlantwerepresented insixannualreports(ABI,1977,1978,1979,1980a,1981b,1982).InJanuary1982,aNationalPollutant Discharge Elimina-tionSystem(NPDES)permitwasissuedtoFPLbytheUSEnvironmental Protection Agency(EPA).TheEPAguidelines fortheSt.Luciesitebiological studieswerebasedonthedocumententitled"Proposed St.LuciePlantPreoperational andOperational Biological Monitoring Program-August1981" (ABI,1981c).Findingsfromthesestudieswerereportedinthreeannualreports(ABI,1983,1984a,1985a).TheEPAbioticmonitoring requirements weredeletedfromtheNPDESpermitin1985.Jurisdiction forseaturtlestudiesiswiththeNRC,whichisconsidered tobetheleadfederalagencyrelativetoconsultation undertheEndangered SpeciesAct.Previousresultsdealingexclusively withseaturtlestudiesarecontained insixenvironmental operating reports(ABI,1984b,1985b,1986,1987,1988,1989).Thisreportdescribes the1989environmental protection activities relatedtoseaturtles,asrequiredbySub-section4.2oftheSt.LuciePlantUnit2Environmental Protection Plan.AREADESCRIPTION TheSt.LuciePlantislocatedona457-hasiteonHutchinson IslandonFlorida's eastcoast(Figures1and2).Theplantisapproximately midwaybetweentheFt.PierceandSt.LucieInlets.ItisboundedonitseastsidebytheAtlanticOceanandonitswestsidebytheIndianRiverLagoon.

IlI Hutchinson Islandisabarrierislandthatextends36kmbetweeninletsandobtainsitsmaximumwidthof2kmattheplantsite.Elevations approach5matopdunesbor-deringthebeachanddecreasetosealevelinthemangroveswampsthatarecommononmuchofthewesternside.Islandvegetation istypicalofsoutheastern Floridacoas-talareas;densestandsofAustralian pine,palmetto, seagrapeandSpanishbayonetI'representatthehigheretevations, andmangroves aboundatthelowerelevations.

Largestandsofblackmangroves, including someontheplantsite,havebeenkilledbyfloodingformosquitocontroloverpastdecades.TheAtlanticshoreline ofHutchinson Islandiscomposedofsandandshellhashwithintermittent rockypromontories protruding throughthebeachfacealongthesouthernendoftheisland.Submerged coquinoid rockformations parallelmuchoftheislandofftheoceanbeaches.Theoceanbottomimmediately offshorefromtheplantsitecon-sistsprimarily ofsandandshellsediments.

Theunstablesubstrate limitstheestab-lishmentofrootedmacrophytes.

TheFloridaCurrent,whichflowsparalleltothecontinental shelfmargin,beginstodivergefromthecoastline atWestPalmBeach.AtHutchinson Island,thecurrentisapproximately 33kmoffshore.

Oceanicwaterassociated withthewesternboundaryofthecurrentperiodically meandersovertheinnershelf,especially duringsummermonths.PLANTDESCRIPTION TheSt.LuciePlantconsistsoftwo850-MWnuclear-fueled electricgenerating unitsthatusenearshore oceanwatersfortheplant'sonce-through condenser coolingwater

.IIl system.Waterfortheplantentersthroughthreesubmerged intakestructures locatedabout365moffshore(Figure2).Eachoftheintakestructures isequippedwithavelocitycaptominimizefishentrainment.

Horizontal intakevelocities arelessthan30cm/sec.Fromtheintakestructures, thewaterpassesthroughsubmerged pipes(two3.7mandone4.9mindiameter) underthebeachanddunesthatleadtoa1,500-mlongintakecanal~Thiscanaltransports thewatertotheplant.Afterpassingthroughtheplant,theheatedwaterisdischarged intoa670-mlongcanalthatleadstotwoburieddischarge pipelines.

Thesepassunderneath thedunesandbeachandalongtheoceanfloortothesubmerged discharges, thefirstofwhichisapproximately 365moffshoreand730mnorthoftheintake.Heatedwaterleavesthefirstdischarge linefromaY-shapednozzle(diffuser) atadesignvelocityof396cm/sec.Thishigh-momentum jetentrainsambientwater,result-inginrapidheatdissipation.

Theoceandepthintheareaofthefirstdischarge isabout6m.Heatedwaterleavestheseconddischarge linethroughaseriesof48equallyspacedhighvelocityjetsalonga323-mmanifold(multiport diffuser)

~Thisdiffuserstarts168mbeyondthefirstdischarge andterminates 856mfromshore.Theoceandepthatdischarge alongthisdiffuserisfromabout10to12m.Aswiththefirstdiffuser, thepurposeoftheseconddiffuseristoentrainambientwaterandrapidlydissipate heat.Fromthepointsofdischarge atbothdiffusers, thewarmerwaterrisestothesurfaceandformsasurfaceplumeofheatedwater.Theplumethenspreadsoutonthesur-faceoftheoceanundertheinfluence ofwindandcurrentsandtheheatdissipates totheatmosphere.

il TURTLESTheNRC'sSt.LucieUnit2AppendixBEnvironmental Protection PlanissuedApril1983containsthefollowing technical specifications:

4.2Terrestrial AvaticIsueIssuesonendangered orthreatened seaturtlesraisedintheUnit2FES-OL[NRC,1982]andintheEndangered SpeciesBiological As-sessment(March1982)[Bellmund etal.,1982]willbeaddressed byprogramsasfollows:Beachnestingsurveysforallspeciesofseaturtleswillbeconducted onayearlybasisfortheperiodof1982through1986.Thesesur-veyswillbeconducted duringthenestingseasonfromap-proximately mid-April throughAugust.TheHutchinson Islandbeachwillbedividedinto36one-km-long surveyareas.Inaddition, thenine1.25-km-long surveyareasusedinpreviousstudies(1971-1979) willbemaintained forcomparison purposes.

Surveyareaswillbemarkedwithnumberedwoodenpla-quesand/orexistinglandmarks.

Theentirebeachwillbesurveyedsevendaysaweek.Allnewnestsandfalsecrawlswillbecountedandrecordedineacharea.Aftercounting, allcrawltrackswillbeobliterated toavoidrecounting.

Predation onnestsbyraccoonsorotherpredators willberecordedasitoccurs.Recordswillbekeptofanyseasonalchangesinbeachtopography thatmayaffectthesuitability ofthebeachfornesting.4.2.2Aprogramthatemployslightand/orsoundtodeterturtlesfromtheintakestructure willbeconducted.

Thestudywilldetermine withlaboratory andfieldexperiments ifsoundand/orlightwillresultinareduction oftotalturtleentrapment rate.

Thestudyshallbeimplemented nolaterthanafterthefinalremovalfromtheoceanofequipment andstructures associated withcon-struction ofthethirdintakestructure andtheexperiments shallter-minate18monthslater.Fourmonthsaftertheconclusion oftheexperimental period,areportontheresultsofthestudywillbesub-mittedtoNRC,EPA,NationalMarineFisheries Service(NMFS),andtheUSFishandWildlifeService(USFWS)fortheirevaluation.

Ifastatistically significant reduction inannualtotalturtleentrapment rateof80percentorgreatercanbedemonstrated, usingthedeveloped technology anduponFPLreceiving writtenconcurrence byNRC,EPA,NMFS,andUSFWSthenpermanent installation ofthedeterrent systemshallbecompleted andfunctioning nolaterthan18monthsaftertheagencies'oncurrence.

Thedesignofthisstudyneedstotakeintoaccountthesignificant annualvariation inturtleentrapment observedinthepast.Ifan80percentreduction ofturtleentrapment cannotbeprojected toallthreeintakestructures, thenaninteragency taskforcecom-posedofNRC,EPA,NMFS,USFWS,andFPLshallconvene18monthsaftercompletion ofthethirdintakeanddetermine ifothercoursesofactiontomitigateand/orreduceturtleentrapment arewarranted (suchasphysicalbarrier,emergence ofnewtechnology ormethodstodeterturtles).

4.2.3Alternative methodsorprocedures forthecaptureofseaturtlesentrapped intheintakecanalwillbeevaluated.

Ifamethodorpro-cedureisconsidered feasibleandcosteffective andmayreducecapturemortality rates,itwillbefieldtestedintheintakecanal.4.2.5CatureandReleaseProramSeaturtleremovalfromtheintakecanalwillbeconducted onacon-tinuingbasis.Theturtleswillbecapturedwithlargemeshnets,orothersuitablenondestructive device(s),

ifdeemedappropriate.

Aformalized dailyinspection, fromtheshoreline, ofthecaptul'edevice(s) willbemadebyaqualified individual whenthedevice(s) aredeployed.

Theturtleswillbeidentified tospecies,measured, weighed(ifappropriate),

taggedandreleasedbackintotheocean.Recordsofwounds,freshorold,andasubjective judgement onthecondition oftheturtle(e.g.,barnaclecoverage, underweight) willbemaintained.

Methodsofobtaining additional biological/physiologi-caldata,suchasbloodanalysesandparasiteloads,fromcaptured 1l~~~~

seaturtleswillbepursued.Deadseaturtleswillbesubjected toagrossnecropsy, iffoundinfreshcondition.

INTRODUCTION Hutchinson Island,Florida,isanimportant rookeryfortheloggerhead turtle,Caret-taoarettaandalsosupportssomenestingofthegreenturtle,~Chelnia~mdasandIRIIk9ktI,~dkIItdtdIIt1.,1999;9

.1999:9I-Iagheretal.,1972;WorthandSmith,1976;Williams-Walls etal.,1983).Allthreespeciesareprotected bystateandfederalstatutes.

Thefederalgovernment classified thelog-gerheadturtleasathreatened species.Theleatherback turtleandtheFloridanestingpopulation ofthegreenturtlearelistedbythefederalgovernment asendangered species.Becauseofreductions inworldpopulations ofmarineturtlesresulting fromcoastaldevelopment andfishingpressure(NMFS,1978),maintaining thevitalityoftheHutchinson Islandrookeryisimportant.

IthasbeenaprimeconcernofFPLthattheconstruction andsubsequent opera-9tionoftheSt.LuciePlantwouldnotadversely affecttheHutchinson Islandrookery.Becauseofthisconcern,FPLhassponsored monitoring ofmarineturtlenestingac-tivityontheislandsince1971.Daytimesurveystoquantifynesting,aswellasnighttime turtletaggingprograms, wereconducted inoddnumberedyearsfrom1971through1979.Duringdaytimenest-ingsurveys,nine1.25-km-long surveyareasweremonitored fivedaysperweek(Figure3).TheSt.LuciePlantbeganoperation in1976;therefore, thefirstthreesurveyyears(1971,1973and1975)werepreoperational.

Thoughthepowerplantwasnotoperat-ingduring1975,St.LuciePlantUnitNo.1oceanintakeanddischarge structures were

installed duringthatyear.Installation ofthesestructures includedconstruction activities conducted offshorefromandperpendicular tothebeach.Construction hadbeencom-pletedandtheplantwasinfulloperation duringthe1977and1979surveys.Amodifieddaytimenestingsurveywasconducted in1980duringthepreliminary construction oftheoceandischarge structure forSt.LuciePlantUnit2.Duringthisstudy,fourofthepreviously established 1.25-km-long surveyareasweremonitored.

Additionally, eggsfromturtlenestspotentially endangered byconstruction activities wererelocated.

Everyyearfrom1981through1989,thirty-six 1-km-long surveyareascomprising theentireislandweremonitored sevendaysaweekduringthenestingseason(Figure3).TheSt.LuciePlantUnit2discharge structure wasinstalled duringthe1981nest-ingseason.Offshoreandbeachconstruction oftheUnit2intakestructure proceeded throughout the1982nestingseasonandwascompleted neartheendofthe1983season.Construction activities associated withinstallation ofbothstructures weresimilartothoseconducted whenUnit1intakeanddischarge structures wereinstalled.

Eggsfromturtlenestspotentially endangered byconstruction activities wererelocated duringallthreeyears.Requirement 4.2.1oftheNRC'sSt.LucieUnit2AppendixBEnvironmental Protec-tionPlanwascompleted withsubmission ofthe1986nestingsurveydata(ABI,1987).Thenestingsurveywascontinued voluntarily through1989withagreement fromfederalandstateagencies.

Resultsarepresented inthisreportanddiscussed inrelationtopreviousfindings.

l Inadditiontomonitoring seaturtlenestingactivities andrelocating nestsawayfromplantconstruction areas,removalofturtlesfromtheintakecanalhasbeenanintegralpartoftheSt.LuciePlantenvironmental monitoring program.Turtlesenteringtheoceanintakestructures areentrained withcoolingwaterandrapidlytransported throughtheintakepipesintoanenclosedcanalsystemwheretheymustbemanuallycapturedand-returnedtotheocean.Sincetheplantbecameoperational in1976,turtlesentrapped intheintakecanalhavebeensystematically

captured, measured, weighed,taggedandreleased.

Previouspublications andtechnical reportshavepresented findingsofthenestingsurveys,nestrelocation activities andcanalcaptureprogram(Gallagher etal.,1972;WorthandSmith,1976;ABI,1978,1980a,1981a,1982,1983,1984b,1985b,1986,1987,1988,1989;Williams-Walls etal.,1983;Proffittetal.,1986;Ernestetal.,1988,1989;Martinetal.,1989a,1989b;O'araandWilcox,inpress).Resultsofstudiestoassesstheeffectsofthermaldischarges onhatchling swimmingspeedhavealsobeenreported(ABI,1978;O'ara,1980).Thepurposeofthisreportisto1)present1989seaturtlenestingsurveydataandsummarize observedspatialandtemporalnestingpatternssince1971,2)documentandsummarize predation onturtlenestssince1971,and3)present1989canalcapturedataandsummarize comparable datacollected since1976.

MATERIALS ANDMETHODSNestinSurveMethodologies usedduringpreviousturtlenestingsurveysonHutchinson Islandweredescribed byGallagher etal.(1972),WorthandSmith(1976)andABI(1978,1981a,1982,1987,1988,1989).Methodsusedduringthe1989surveyweredesignedtoallowcomparisons withthesepreviousstudies.On10and13April1989,preliminary nestsurveyswereconducted alongHutchin-sonIslandfromtheFt.PierceInletsouthtotheSt.LucieInlet.From17Aprilthrough8September, nestsurveyswereconducted onadailybasis.After8September, severaladditional surveyswereconducted toconfirmthatnestinghadceased,thelastsurveybeingconducted on15September.

Biqlogists usedsmalloff-roadmotorcycles tosur-veytheislandeachmorning.Newnests,non-nesting emergences (falsecrawls),andnestsdestroyed bypredators wererecordedforeachofthethirty-six 1-km-long sur-veyareascomprising theentireisland(Figure3)~Thenine1.25-km-long surveyareasestablished byGallagher etal.(1972)also'were monitored socomparisons couldbemadewithpreviousstudies.Duringthedailynestmonitoring, anymajorchangesintopography thatmayhaveaffectedthebeach'ssuitability fornestingwererecorded.

Inaddition, eachofthethir-ty-six1-km-long surveyareashasbeensystematically analyzedandcategorized basedonbeachslope(steep,moderate, etc.),widthfromhightidelinetothedune,presenceofbenches(areasofabruptverticalrelief)andmiscellaneous characteristics (packed10 I

sand,scattered rock,vegetation onthebeach,exposedrootsontheprimarydune,etc.).Inacooperative effort,datafromstrandedturtlesfoundduringbeachsurveyswereroutinely providedtotheNationalMarineFisheries ServicethroughtheSeaTurtleStranding andSalvageNetwork.IntakeCanalMonitorin Mostturtlesentrapped intheSt.LuciePlantintakecanalwereremovedbymeansoflarge-mesh tanglenetsfishedbetweentheintakeheadwalls andabarriernetlocatedattheHighwayA1Abridge(Figure2).Netsusedduring1989werefrom30to40minlength,3to4mdeepandcomposedof40cmstretchmeshnylontwine.Largefloatswereattachedtothesurface,andunweighted linesusedaiongthebottom.Turtlesen-tangledinthenetsgenerally remainedatthewater'ssurfaceuntilremoved.TurtlenetswereusuallydeployedonMondaymorningsandretrieved onFridayafternoons.

Duringperiodsofdeployment, thenetswereinspected forcapturesbyABIpersonnel atleasttwiceeachday(mornings andafternoons).

Additionally, St.LuciePlantpersonnel checkedthenetsperiodically, andABIwasnotifiedimmediately ifacapturewasobserved.

ABI'sseaturtlespecialists wereoncall24hoursadaytoretrievecapturedturtlesfromtheplant.TheA1Abarriernetisusedtoconfineturtlestotheeasternmost sectionofthein-takecanal,wherecapturetechniques havebeenmosteffective.

Thisnetisconstructed oflargediameterpolypropylene ropeandhasameshsizeof30.5cm.Acableisused

tokeepthetopofthenetabovethewater'ssurfaceandthebottomisanchoredbyaseriesofheavyblocks.Thenetisinclinedataslopeof3:1,withthebottompositioned upstreamofthesurfacecable.Thisreducesbowinginthecenterandminimizes theriskofaweakorinjuredturtlebeingpinnedagainstitbycurrents.

Occasionally, theintegrity ofthebarriernethasbeencompromised, andturtleshavebeenabletomovewestofA1A.Theseturtlesarefurtherconstrained downstream byasecurityintrusion barrierpositioned perpendicular tothenorth-south armofthecanal(Figure2)~Thesecuritybarrieralsoconsistsof30.5cmmesh,butthenetiscon-structedofheavychainlinksratherthanrope.Priortothecompletion ofthesecurityintrusion barrierinDecember1986,turtlesuncontained bytheA1AbarriernetwereusuallyremovedfromthecanalattheintakewellsofUnits1and2(Figure2).Theretheywereretrieved bymeansoflargemechani-calrakesorspecially designednets.Following construction ofthesecurityintrusion barrier,onlythoseindividuals withcarapacewidthslessthan30.5cmwereabletoreachtheintakewells.Thus,asrequired, tanglenetsweresetwestofA1Atocaptureturtleslargerthan30.5cm.InadditiontoABI'snettingactivities, formaldailyinspections oftheintakecanalweremadetodetermine thenumbers,locations andspeciesofturtlespresent.Oc-casionally, turtleswereobservedinareaswheretheycouldbehandcaptured.

Surfaceobservations wereaugmented withperiodicunderwater inspections usingSCUBA,particularly inandaroundtheA1Abarriernetandsecurityintrusion barrier.Severalturtleswerehandcapturedduringthesedives.12

~i~~~~gifigi Regardless ofcapturemethod,allturtlesremovedfromthecanalwereidentiTied tospecies,measured, weighed,tagged,andexaminedforoverallcondition (wounds,abnormalities, parasites, etc.).Healthyturtleswerereleasedbackintotheoceanthesamedayofcapture.Sickorinjuredturtlesweretreatedandoccasionally heldforob-servation priortorelease.Whentreatment waswarranted, injections ofantibiotics andvitaminswereadministered byalocalveterinarian.

Resuscitation techniques wereusedifaturtlewasfoundthatappearedtohavediedrecently.

Beginning in1982,necrop-sieswereconducted ondeadturtlesfoundinfreshcondition; nonecropsies wereper-formedduring1989.Since1982,bloodsampleshavebeencollected andanalyzedtodetermine thesexofimmatureturtles.Bloodwasremovedfromthepaireddorsalcervicalsinusesofsub-jectturtlesusingthetechnique described byOwensandRuiz(1980).Thesamplesweremaintained oniceandlatercentrifuged for15minutestoseparatecellsandserum.Sexdeterminations weresubsequently madebyresearchers atTexasA8MUniver-sityusingradioimmunoassay forserumtestosterone (Owensetal.,1978).FloridaPower&LightCompanyandAppliedBiology;Inc.continued toassistotherseaturtleresearchers in1989.Data,specimens and/orassistance havebeengiventotheFloridaDepartment ofNaturalResources, NationalMarineFisheries Service,USFishandWildlifeService,USArmyCorpsofEngineers, Smithsonian Institution, SouthCarolinaWildlifeandMarineResources

Division, CenterforSeaTurtleResearch(University ofFlorida),

TexasA8MUniversity, University ofRhodeIsland,University ofSouthCarolina, University ofIllinois, University ofCentralFlorida,University ofGeor-gia,VirginiaInstitute ofMarineScienceandtheWesternAtlanticTurtleSymposium.

13 i~!I5ttl StudiestEvaluateandorMitiateIntakeEntramentAprogramthatassessedthefeasibility ofusinglightand/orsoundtodeterturtlesfromenteringtheSt.LuciePlantintakestructures wasconducted in1982and1983andcompleted inJanuary1984.Asrequired, testresultsandevaluations werewrittenupandapresentation wasmadetotheNRC,NationalMarineFisheries ServiceandtheFloridaDepartment ofNaturalResources on11April1984.Requirement 4.2.2oftheNRC'sSt.LucieUnit2AppendixBEnvironmental Protection Planisconsidered completed withsubmission ofdeterrent studyfindings.

RESULTSANDDISCUSSION NestinSurveDistribution ofLoerheadNstAlnHutchinson IslandWhenseaturtlenestingsurveysbeganonHutchinson Island,nine1.25-km-long surveyareaswereusedtoestimateloggerhead nestingactivityfortheentireisland.Since1981,all361-km-long segmentscomprising theisland'scoastline havebeensurveyed.

Regardless oftechnique, loggerhead nestdensities haveshowncon-siderable annualvariation withinindividual surveyareas(Figures4and5).Yet,theannualspatialdistribution ofthosenestsamongsurveyareashasproducedaratheruniformgradient, nestdensities consistently increasing fromnorthtosouth(ABI,1987).Thegradientappearstobelinearwhenonlythenine1.25-km-long surveyareasareused(Figure4),butbecomesnon-linear whenall361-km-long surveyareasarein-cludedintheanalysis(Figure5).During1989thedistribution ofloggerhead nestsalong14

theislandfollowedthesamegeneralpatternaspreviously

reported, nestdensities in-creasingabruptlyfromnorthtosouthalongthenorthernportionoftheisland,reach-ingmaximumdensities incentralsurveyareasandthendecreasing slightlytowardthesouthernportionoftheisland(I=igure5).Inthepast,thepronounced gradientobservedonthenorthernendoftheislandwasoccasionally influenced byphysicalprocesses occurring there;periodsofheavyaccretion reducedthegradient, whileperiodsoferosionaccentuated it(WorthandSmith,1976;Williams-Walls etal.,1983).However,duringrecentyearsnoconsistent relationship wasapparentwhenfieldobservations ofbeachwidthswerecomparedtothespatialdistribution ofnestsalongtheisland(ABI,1987).Thus,eventhoughbeachdynamicsmaysometimes affecttheselection ofnestingsitesbyloggerhead turtles,otherfactorsmustalsocontribute totheselection process.Offshorebottomcontours, spatialdistribution ofnearshore reefs,typeandextentofdunevegetation, anddegreeofhumanactivityonthebeachatnighthavebeenidentified assomeofthefactorsaf-fectingnesting(Caldwell, 1962;Hendrickson andBalasingam, 1966;Bustard,1968;BustardandGreenham, 1968;Hughes,1974;DavisandWhiting,1977;Mortimer, 1982).Relationships betweenspatialnestingpatternsandspecificenvironmental con-ditionsareoftendifficult toestablish becauseoftheinterrelationship ofthefactorsin-volved.Notallventuresontothebeachbyafemaleturtleculminate insuccessful nests.These'Valsecrawls"(non-nesting emergences) mayoccurformanyreasonsandarecommonlyencountered atotherrookeries (BaldwinandLofton,1959;Schulz,1975;DavisandWhiting,1977;Talbertetal.,1980;Raymond,1984).DavisandWhiting15 l

(1977)suggested thatrelatively highpercentages offalsecrawlsmayreflectdisturban-cesorunsatisfactory nestingbeachcharacteristics.

Therefore, certainfactorsmayaf-fectaturtle'spreference toemergeonabeach,whileotherfactorsmayaffectaturtle'tendencytonestafterithasemerged.Anindexwhichrelatesthenumberofneststothenumberoffalsecrawlsinanareaisusefulinestimating thepost-emergence suitability ofabeachfornesting.Inthepresentstudythisindexistermed"nestingsuc-cess"andisdefinedasthepercentage oftotalemergences thatresultinnests.Historically, thepatternofloggerhead emergences ontheislandhasgenerally paral-leledthedistribution ofnests(ABI,1987,1988),andthissametrendwasapparentin1989(Figure6).Incontrast, nestingsuccessbyloggerheads alongtheislandhastypi-callylackedgradients (Figure7).Thus,therelatively highnumbersofloggerhead nestsusuallyobservedalongthesouthernhalfoftheislandhaveresultedprimarily frommoreturtlescomingashoreinthatarearatherthanfrommorepreferable nestingconditions beingencountered bytheturtlesaftertheyemerged.Hughes(1974)andBustard(1968)foundthatloggerheads preferred beachesad-jacenttooutcropsofrocksorsubtidalreefs.Williams-Walls etal.(1983)suggested thatthenestinggradientonHutchinson Islandmaybeinfluenced bytheoffshorereefsiffemaleturtlesconcentrate onthereefsclosesttothebeachtorestorfeed,Theproximity ofoffshorereefswouldputthegreatestconcentration ofturtlesnearthesouthernhalfoftheislandwherecoincidentally nestingishighest.Loggerhead nestingdensities during1989weregenerally withintherangeofvaluespreviously recorded(Figures4and5).Themostconspicuous exceptions occurredon16 I

thenorthernhalfoftheislandwherenestingwasrelatively highcomparedtopreviousyears.Therewerenoapparentchangesinthephysicalcharacteristics ofthebeachthatwouldaccountforthisincreaseinnesting,Rather,itmayberelatedtoadecreaseinhumanactivityonthebeachatnight.Historically, nighttime vehicleuseofthebeacheshasbeenextensive onthenorthernhalfoftheisland.However,betweenthe1988and1989nestingseasons,successful blockageofmanyaccesspointsresultedinafortypercentreduction inthisactivity.

Ifthelights,movements andnoiseassociated withoff-roadvehiclespreviously deterredturtlesfromemergingtonest(seeHendrickson, 1958),areduction invehicleuseduring1989wouldaccountforrecordhighemergence andnestingratesonthenorthernhalfoftheisland(Figures5and6).Relatively lownestinginAreaFsuggeststhatfactorsotherthanvehicletrafficcon-tinuedtodeterturtlesfromnestinginthatarea.Aspreviously reported(ABI,1988,1989),reducednestinginAreaFmayberelatedtotheremovalofbeachfront vegeta-tionpriortothe1987nestingseason.Additionally, extensive accumulations ofshellandrockmaterialalongthissectionofbeachduring1989mayhavedeterredturtlesfromnestingaftertheyemergedandmayexplaintherecordlownestingsuccessinthisarea(Figure7).Recordlownestingsuccesswasalsodocumented inAreaL.ThemostnotablechangeinthissectionofbeachwasanincreaseinthenumberofdeadAustralian pinesthathadfallenonthebeachsincetheendofthe1988nestingseason.Thesefallentreesactasobstacles toturtlesastheycrawlupthebeachtonest,Whenaturtleen-counterssuchanobstacle, itusuallyreturnstotheoceanwithoutnesting.17 I

Onthesouthernhalfoftheisland,loggerhead nestingwaswithintherangeofpre-viouslyrecordedvaluesinallbutonearea(AreaE@.RecordlownestinginAreaEEduring1989wasapparently attributable toconditions encountered byturtlesaftertheyemergedsincethenumberofemergences werenotlowwhencomparedtopreviousyears.Thisisconfirmed bytherecordlownestingsuccessinthisareaduring1989.Beachconditions whichwouldaccountforsuchadecreaseinnestingsuccesscouldnotbeidentified; however,humanactivityonthebeachcannotberuledoutsincethisareaisbackedbyalargeresortandapublicbeach.NestingsurveysonHutchinson Islandwereinitiated inresponsetoconcernsthattheoperation oftheSt.LuciePlantmightnegatively impactthelocalseaturtlerookery.Previousanalysis, usinglog-likelihood testsofindependence (G-test;SokalandRohlf,1981)demonstrated thattheconstruction oftheplant'soffshoreintakeanddischarge structures significantly reducednestingattheplantsiteduringconstruction years-1975,1981,1982and1983(Proffitt etal.,1986;ABI,1987).However,nestingattheplantconsistently returnedtolevelssimilartoorgreaterthanthoseatacontrolsiteinyearsfollowing construction (Figure8).Thus,powerplantoperation exclusive ofin-take/discharge construction hadnoapparenteffectonnesting.Datacollected through1989haveshownnolong-term reduction inloggerhead nestdensities, totalemergences ornestingsuccessineitherthenine1.25-km-long surveyareasorthe361-km-long surveyareas(Table1;Figure9).18 III Estimates ofTotalLoerheadNetinonHutchinson IslandVariousmethodswereusedduringsurveyspriorto1981toestimatethetotalnum-berofloggerhead nestsonHutchinson Islandbasedonthenumberofnestsfoundinthenine1.25-km-long surveyareas(Gallagher etal.,1972;WorthandSmith,1976;ABI,1980a).Eachofthesemethodsweresubsequently foundtoconsistently overes-timateislandtotals(ABI,1987).Sincewhole-island surveysbeganin1981,ithasbeenpossibletodetermine theactualproportion oftotalnestsdeposited inthenineareas.Thishasthenallowedextrapolation fromtheninesurveyareastotheentireislandforyearspriorto1981.From1981through1989thetotalnumberofnestsinthenineareasvariedfrom33.1to35.6percentofthetotalnumberofnestsontheisland(Table1).Thisisslight-lyhigherthanthe31.3percentwhichwouldbeexpectedbasedstrictlyonthepropor-tionoflinearcoastline comprised bythenineareas.Usingthenine-year meanof34.0percent,estimates ofthetotalnumberofnestsonHutchinson Islandcanbecalculated bymultiplying thenumberofnestsinthenineareasby2.94.Thistechnique, whenap-pliedtotheninesurveyareasduringthenineyearsinwhichtheentireislandwassur-veyed,producedwhole-island estimates withinfivepercentoftheactualnumberofnestscounted.Becausetheproportion ofnestsrecordedintheninesurveyareasremainedrelatively constantoverthelastnineyears,thisextrapolation procedure shouldprovideafairlyaccurateestimateoftotalloggerhead nestingforyearspriorto1981.

I Itisclearthatloggerhead nestingactivityonHutchinson Islandfluctuates con-siderably fromyeartoyear(Table1).Annualvariations innestdensities alsoarecom-monatotherrookeries (Hughes,1976;DavisandWhiting,1977;Ehrhart,1980)andmayresultfromtheoverlapping ofnon-annual breedingpopulations.

Duringthelasteightyears,however,annualnestproduction hasremainedrelatively high.Totalnest-ingactivitywasgreatestduring1986when5,483loggerhead nestswererecordedontheisland.During1989,5,193nestswerecounted.Norelationships betweentotal-nestingactivityandpowerplantoperation orintake/discharge construction wereindi-catedbyyear-to-year variations intotalnestingonHutchinson Island.TemoralLoerheadNestinPatternsTheloggerhead turtlenestingseasonusuallybeginsbetweenmid-April andearlyMay,attainsamaximumduringJuneorJuly,andendsbylateAugustorearlySep-tember(ABI,1987).Nestingactivityduring1989followedthissamepattern(Figure10).Coolwaterintrusions frequently occuroverthecontinental shelfofsoutheast Floridaduringthesummer(TaylorandStewart,1958;Smith,1982).WorthandSmith(1976),Williams-Walls etal.(1983)andABI(1982,1983,1984b,1985b,1986,1987,1988,1989)suggested thattheseintrusions mayhavebeenresponsible forthetemporary declinesinloggerhead turtlenestingactivitypreviously observedonHutchinson Island.Similarly, asubstantial decreaseinnestingduringmid-June1989wasapparently duetoanintrusion ofcoolwater(Figure10).20

Thoughnaturalfluctuations intemperature havebeenshowntoaffecttemporalnest-ingpatternsonHutchinson Island,therehasbeennoindication thatpowerplantopera-tionhasaffectedthesetemporalpatterns(ABI,1988)~PrdationonLorhaTrtleNestsSincenestsurveysbeganin1971,raccoonpredation probablyhasbeenthemajorcauseofturtlenestdestruction onHutchinson Island.Researchers atotherlocations havereportedraccoonpredation levelsashighas70tonearly100percent(DavisandWhiting,1977;Ehrhart,1979;Hopkinsetal.,1979;Talbertetal.,1980).Raccoonpreda-tionofloggerhead turtlenestsonHutchinson Islandhasnotapproached thislevelduringanystudyyear,thoughlevelsforindividual 1.25-km-long areashavebeenashighas80percent.Overallpredation ratesforsurveyyears1971through1977werebetween21and44percent,withahighof44percentrecordedin1973.Apronounced decreaseinraccoonpredation occurredafter1977,andoverallpredation ratesforthenineareashavenotexceeded10percentsince1979.Adeclineinpredation ratesonHutchinson Islandhasbeenvariously attributed totrappingprograms, construction activities, habitatlossanddisease(Williams-Walls etal.,1983;ABI,1987).During1989,eightpercent(423)oftheloggerhead nests(n=5,193)ontheislandweredepredated byraccoons.

Asinpreviousyears(ABI,1989),predation ofturtlenestswasprimarily restricted tothemostundeveloped portionoftheisland(i.e.,AreasEthroughS;Figure11).Ghostcrabshavebeenreportedbynumerousresearchers asimportant predators ofseaturtlenests(BaldwinandLofton,1959;Schulz,1975;Diamond,1976;Fowler,21

1979;Hopkinsetal~,1979;Stancyk,1982).ThoughturtlenestsonHutchinson Islandprobablyhavebeendepredated byghostcrabssincenestingsurveysbeganin1971,thissourceofnestdestruction didnotbecomeapparentuntil1983.Quantification ofghostcrabpredation wasinitiated thesameyear.Overallpredation ratesbyghostcrabshavevariedfrom0.2to2.1percentfrom1983-1988(ABI,1989).During1989,0.1percent(6)oftheloggerhead nests(n=5,193)ontheislandweredestroyed byghostcrabs(Figure11).Nestsdestroyed byacombination ofraccoonandghostcrabpredation havebeenincludedasraccoonpredations inpreviousdiscussions.

Whenthesecombination predations areincludedascrabpredations, theoverallpredation ratesbyghostcrabsrangefrom0.4to3.2percent.During1989,0.4percent(23nests)weredestroyed byeitherghostcrabsoracombination ofghostcrabsandraccoons.

GreenandLeatherback TurtleNestinGreenandleatherback turtlesalsonestonHutchinson Island,butinfewernumbersthanloggerhead turtles.Priorto1981,bothsurvey(nine1.25-km-long sections) andinter-survey areasweremonitored forthepresenceofgreenandleatherback nests.Thirty-one kilometers ofbeachfromArea1southtotheSt.LucieInletwereincludedinthateffort.Duringwhole-island surveysfrom1981through1989,onlytwoof170leatherback nestsandonlyfiveof469greennestswererecordedonthefivekilometers ofbeachnorthofArea1.Therefore, previouscountsofgreenandleatherback nestswithinthe31kilometers surveyedwereprobablynotappreciably different fromtotaldensities fortheentireisland.Basedonthisassumption, greenandleatherback nest22

densities maybecomparedamongallsurveyyears,except1980,whenlessthan15kilometers ofbeachweresurveyed.

Priorto1989,thenumberofnestsobservedontheislandrangedfrom5to74forgreenturtlesandfrom1to33forleatherbacks (Figure12).Duringthe1989survey,45greenturtleand36leatherback turtlenestswererecordedonHutchinson Island.Temporalnestingpatternsforthesespeciesdifferfromthepatternforloggerhead turtles.Greenturtlestypically nestonHutchinson Islandfrommid-JunethroughthefirstorsecondweekofSeptember.

During1989,greenturtlesnestedfrom15Junethrough23September.

Leatherback turtlesusuallynestontheislandfrommid-April throughearlytomid-July.

During1989thisspeciesnestedfrom30Marchthrough17July.0Considerable fluctuations ingreenturtlenestingontheisland.haveoccurredamongsurveyyears(Figure12).Thisisnotunusualsincetherearedrasticyear-to-year fluc-tuationsinthenumbersofgreenturtlesnestingatotherbreedinggrounds(Carretal.,1982).Despitethesefluctuations, greenturtlenestinghasremainedrelatively highduringthelasteightyears(1982through1989)andmayreflectanincreaseinthenum-berofnestingfemalesintheHutchinson Islandarea.During1989,greenturtlesnestedmostfrequently alongthesouthernhalfoftheisland.Thisisconsistent withresultsofprevioussurveys.Leatherback turtlenestdensities haveremainedlowonHutchinson Island;however,increased nestingduringrecentyears(Figure12)mayreflectanoverallincreaseinthe23

numberofnestingfemalesintheHutchinson Islandarea.During1989,leatherback turtlesprimarily nestedonthesouthernhalfoftheisland.IntakeCanalMonitorin Entrainment ofseaturtlesattheSt.LuciePlanthasbeenattributed tothepresumedphysicalattractiveness oftheoffshorestructures housingtheintakepipesratherthantoplantoperating characteristics (ABI,1980band1986).Evenwhenbothunitsareoperating atfullcapacity, turtlesmustactivelyswimintothemouthofoneoftheintakepipesbeforetheyencounter currentvelocities sufficiently strongtoeffectentrainment.

Consequently, aturtle'sentrapment relatesprimarily totheprobability thatitwilldetectandsubsequently enteroneoftheintakestructures.

Assumingthatdetection distan-cesdonotvaryappreciably overtimeandthatallturtles(oraconstantproportion) areequallyattracted tothestructures, capturerateswillvaryproportionally tothenumberofturtlesoccurring inthevicinityofthestructures.

Ifthisassumption istrue,datafromthecanalcaptureprogramshouldreflectnaturalvariability inthestructure ofthepopula-tionbeingsampled.RelativeAbundance andTemoralDistribution During1989,133seaturtlecapturestookplaceintheintakecanaloftheSt.LuciePlant(Table2).Allfivespeciesofseaturtlesoccurring incoastalwatersofthesoutheastern UnitedStateswererepresented inthecatches,including 111logger-heads,17greens,1leatherback, 2hawksbills and2Kemp'sridleys.Sinceintakecanalmonitoring beganinMay1976,1,741loggerhead (including 89recaptures),

286green24

(including 1recapture),

9leatherback, 8hawksbill and17Kemp'sridleycaptureshavebeenreportedfromtheSt,LuciePlant.Annualcatchesofloggerheads increased steadilyfromalowof33in1976(partialyearofplantoperation andmonitoring) to172in1979(Figure13).Afterdeclining be-tween1979and1981,yearlycatchesofloggerheads againrosesteadily, reachingahighof195during1986.Captureshavebeenindeclinesince1986,decreasing over40percentduringthelastthreeyears.Twooffshoreintakestructures wereinplacepriortoUnit1start-upin1976;thethirdandlargeststructure wasinstalled during1982-1983.

Eventhoughallthreestructures areinrelatively closeproximity, theadditionofanotherpipemayhaveincreased theprobability ofaturtlebeingentrained.

Becausethischangecannotbequantified, datacollected priorto1982maynotbecomparable withthatcollected after1983.'Addition-ally,theinfluence oftheconstruction itselfonseaturtleentrainment during1982and1983isunknown.Withtheseconsiderations inmind,neitheralong-term increasenordecreaseinthenumberofloggerheads capturedattheSt.LuciePlantcanbeinferredfromthedata.During1989,themonthlycatchofloggerheads rangedfrom2(September andDecember) to21(July),withamonthlymeanof9.3(+6.4;Table3).ThenumberofcapturesbetweenAprilandAugustwereaverageoraboveaverage,whilecapturesthroughout theremainder oftheyearweregenerally lowerthanaverage(Figure14).Overtheentiremonitoring period,monthlycatcheshaverangedfrom0to39;thegreatestnumberofcapturesoccurredduringJanuary1983.25

~~~S

)4Whendatafromallfullyearsofmonitoring (1977-1989) werecombined, thehighestnumberofloggerhead capturesoccurredinJanuary(12.5percent);

fewestcaptureswererecordedinNovemberandDecember(Table3).However,monthlycatcheshaveshownconsiderable annualvariability.

Monthshavingrelatively lowcatchesoneyearoftenhavehadrelatively highcatchesinanother.Catchesofgreenturtlesalsohavevariedwidelyamongyears,rangingfrom0in1976(partialyearofsampling) to69in1984(Table4).During1989,17individuals werecaptured.

Theaverageannualcatchofgreenturtles,excluding 1976,was22.0(+18.7).Althoughhighlyvariable, annualcapturedataforgreenturtlessuggestalong-term in-creaseinthenumberofindividuals inhabiting thenearshore coastalareaadjacenttotheplant(Figure13).Again,however,theinfluence oftheadditionofathirdintakepipein1982onthesedataisnotknown.Greenturtleshavebeencaughtduringeverymonthoftheyear,withaveragemonth-lycatchesforallyearscombinedrangingfrom0.4inSeptember to7.2inJanuary(Table4).However,seasonalabundance patternsofgreensaremuchmorepronounced thanforloggerheads, about80percentofallcapturesoccurring betweenNovemberandApril.During1989,thelargestnumberofgreens(6)werecapturedinMarch.Themostgreensevercaughtinonemonthwas37inJanuary1984.Catchesofleatherbacks, hawksbills andKemp'sridleyshavebeeninfrequent andscattered throughout the14yearstudyperiod(Table2).Eachspecieshasshownrather'pronounced seasonaloccurrences; allbuttwoofthenineleatherbacks werecollected betweenFebruaryandMay,sevenoftheeighthawksbills werecollected 26 4

betweenJuneandSeptember, andallbuttwoofthe17Kemp'sridleyswerecaughtbetweenNovemberandApril~iz-ClasDistribtinAlthoughseveralstraight-line andcurvedmeasurements wererecordedforturtlesremovedfromtheintakecanal,onlyonestraight-line measurement hasbeenusedinanalysespresented here.Straight-line carapacelength(SLCL)wasmeasuredfromtheprecentral scutetothenotchbetweenthepostcentral scutes(minimumcarapacelengthofPritchard etal.,1983).Todate,loggerheads removedfromtheintakecanalhaverangedinlength(SLCL)from40.4to112.0cm(x=66.3+13.3cm)andinweightfrom10.9kgto160.6kg(Figures15and16).About71percentofallloggerheads capturedwere70cmorlessinlengthandweighedlessthan50kilograms.

Acarapacelengthof70cmapproximates thesmallestsizeofnestingloggerhead femalesobservedalongtheAtlanticeastcoast(Hirth,1980).However,adultscanonlybereliablysexedonexternalmorphological characteristics (e.g.,relativetaillength)afterobtaining alengthofabout80cm.Basedonthesedivisions, dataweresegregated intothreegroups:juvenile/sub-adults

(<70cm;thedemarcation betweenthesetwocomponents isnotwellestablished intheliterature),

adults(>80cm)andtransitional (70-80cm).Thelattergroupprobablyincludessomematureandsomeimmaturein-dividuals.

Ofthe1,666capturesforwhichlengthdatawerecollected, 71percentwerejuveniles/sub-adults, themajorityofthesemeasuring between50and70cmSLCL(Table5).Adultsaccounted forabout18percentofallcaptures, theremaining 1127

~fj~~~~~(gv percentcomprised ofanimalsinthetransitional sizeclass.Similarsize-frequency dis-tributions, indicating apreponderance ofjuveniles, havebeenreportedfortheMosquito/Indian RiverLagoon(Mendonca andEhrhart,1982),theCanaveral shipchannel(Henwood, 1987),andGeorgiaandSouthCarolina(Hillestad etal.,1982).Thesedatasuggestthatcoastalwatersofthesoutheastern UnitedStatesconstitute animportant developmental habitatforQgr~ett.~

gargtta.Seasonalpatternsofabundance forvarioussizeclassesindicated thatjuveniles andsub-adult loggerheads wereslightlymoreabundantduringthewinterthanatothertimesoftheyear(Table5).About36percentofjuvenile/sub-adult loggerheads werecapturedbetweenJanuaryandMarch.Abundances decreased inspringandremainedrelatively constantduringthesummerandearlyfallbeforedecreasing againtolowestlevelsinNovemberandDecember.

Theseasonaldistribution ofadultloggerheads wasmuchmorepronounced, 58percentofallcapturesoccurring betweenJuneandAugust.Thisrepresents theperiodofpeaknestingonHutchinson Island.Ifothernest-ingmonthsareincluded(MayandSeptember),

75percentofalladultswerecapturedduringthenestingseason.Greenturtlesremovedfromtheintakecanalovertheentirestudyperiodrangedinsizefrom20to108cmSLCL(x=35.8+14.4cm)and0.9kgto177.8kg(Figures17and18).Nearlyall(96percent)werejuveniles orsub-adults.

About80percentwere40cmorlessinlength,and67percentweighed5kilograms orless.Theseimmatureturtlesexhibited distinctwinterpulsessuggesting migratory behavior(Table4).However,someimmaturegreenturtleswerepresentthroughout theyear.Todate,onlyeightadultgreenturtles(SLCL>83cm;Witherington andEhrhart,1989)have28

~~~~~(j~~~~(5~~

beenremovedfromthecanal;allwerecapturedduringorshortlyafterthenestingseason.Theeighthawksbills removedfromthecanalrangedinsizefrom34.0to70.0cmSLCL(x=46.2+12.9cm)andinweightfrom6.4to52.2kg(x=17.3+16.6kg).Allbutonewerejuveniles (SLCL(63cm;Witzell,1983).Similarly, allbutoneofthe17Kemp'sridleyscapturedattheSt.LuciePlantwerejuveniles (SLCL(60.0cm;Hirth,1980).Carapacelengthsfortheridleysrangedfrom27.0to62.0cmSLCL(x=36.1+9.7cm)andweightsfrom3.2to31.8kg(x=8.0+8.1kg).Thenineleatherbacks removedfromthecanalrangedinlengthfrom112.5to150.0cm,andatleastsevenwereadults(SLCL)121cm;Hirth,1980).Thelargestleatherback forwhichanac-curateweightwasobtained, afemalewithacurvedcarapacelengthof158.5cm,weighed334.8kg.SexRatiosSinceintakecanalmonitoring beganin1976,297adultloggerheads havebeensexed.Thesmallestwas75.5cminlengthandwasobservednestingonHutchinson Islandshortlyafterhercaptureinthecanal.Femalespredominated malesbyaratioof5.6:1.0,whichsignificantly departsfroma1:1ratio(X,P(0.05).Consequently, tem-poralpatternsinthenumberofadultloggerhead capturesareheavilyinfluenced bythenumbersoffemalespresent.Whensexeswereseparated, itisevidentthatmaleswererelatively evenlydistributed amongmonths,whereasover80percentofthefemalesweretakenduringthenestingseason(MaythroughSeptember; Figure19).29 4~(gl4l Thenumberofadultfemaleloggerheads capturedattheSt.LuciePlanthasin-creasedsteadilyoverthelastsevenyears.Priorto1983,anaverageof6.5adultfemales(+3.8;range=1-12)wereentrapped eachyear,whereassincethen,anaverageof30.1femalesperyear(+11.6;range=12-45)werecaptured.

Thisincreasecor-respondstoageneralriseinloggerhead nestingactivityneartheplant(Figure20).In-creasednearshore movementassociated withnestingincreases theprobability ofaturtledetecting oneoftheintakestructures andhencetheprobability ofentrainment.

Althoughtheadditionofthethirdoffshoreintakestructure in1982mayhaveaccounted forsomeoftheincreaseinthenumberofadultsentrained eachyear,thecontinued risesince1982suggestsagenuineincreaseinthenumberoffemalesoccurring inthevicinityoftheplant.BetweenSeptember 1982andDecember1986,267individual juvenileandsub-adult loggerhead turtlescapturedinthecanalweresexedbyTexasA&MUniversity re-searchers usingabioimmunoassay technique forbloodserumtestosterone.

Aspre-viouslyreported, femalesoutnumbered malesbyaratioof2.3:1.0(ABI,1989).Thesefindingsareconsistent withthosereportedforsamplestakenfromtheCapeCanaveral shipchannel(1.7:1.0) andtheIndianRiverLagoon(1.4:1.0),

wheresexratiosarealsosignificantly skewedinfavoroffemales(Wibbelsetal.,1984).Bloodsamplescollected since1986arecurrently beinganalyzedandtheseresultswillprovideavaluabletoolforassessing temporalvariability inthesexratiosofthelocalloggerhead population.

Oftheeightadultgreenturtlescapturedsincemonitoring began,sixweremalesandtwowerefemales.Siximmaturegreenturtleshavebeensexedthroughbloodwork;allhavebeenfemales.Ofthesixadultleatherback turtlesforwhichsexwasrecorded, 30

'fli4 threewerefemalesandthreeweremales.Theadulthawksbill andKemp'sridleywerebothfemales.Nosexinformation existsforjuveniles ofthesespecies.CatureEfficiencies Capturemethodologies evolvedoverthefirstseveralyearsofintakecanalmonitor-ingasnetmaterials, configurations andplacement werevariedinanefforttominimizeseaturtleentrapment times.Concurrently, alternative capturetechniques wereevaluated andpotential deterrent systemstestedinthelaboratory.

Duringthisperiod,captureefficiencies variedinrelationtonettingeffortandtheeffectiveness ofthesys-temsdeployed.

Acapture/recapture studyconducted intheintakecanalbetweenOctober1980andJanuary1981indicated thatmostturtlesconfinedbetweentheA1Abridgeandtheintakeheadwalls werecapturedwithintwoweeksoftheirentrainment (ABI,1983).Basedonmorerecentformaldailyinspections, itappearsthatcaptureefficiencies havefurtherimproved.

Mostturtlesenteringthecanalarenowcaughtwithinafewdaysoffirstsighting, andinmanyinstances, turtleshavebeencaughtinthetanglenetswithoutanypriorsighting, suggesting residency timesoflessthan24hours.Betterutilization ofcurrentsandeddies,adjustments totethering linesandmulti-net deployments havecontributed toreducedentrapment times.Entrapment timesmaybeextendedforturtlesswimmingpasttheA1Abarriernet(ABI,1987).Occasionally, thetopofthenethasbeensubmerged ortheanchorcablepulledfreefromthebottom,allowinglargerturtlestopass;turtleswithcarapacewidthslessthanabout30.5cmcanswimthroughthelargemesh.Becausecaptureefforts 4S4 westoftheA1Abridgehavegenerally beenlesseffective thanthoseneartheintakeheadwalls, mostturtlesbreaching thebarriernetwerenotcaughtuntiltheyenteredtheintakewellsofUnits1and2.Sincethecanalcaptureprogrambegan,about14per-centofallturtlesentrapped inthecanalhavebeenremovedfromtheintakewells.Be-causeoftheirrelatively smallsizes,agreaterproportion ofgreens(47.9percent)reachedtheplantthanloggerheads (8.1percent)~Aftercompletion ofthesecurityintrusion barrierinDecember1986,turtleslargerthan30.5cmincarapacewidthwereprevented fromreachingtheintakewells.During1989,onlysixloggerheads (5.4percentofallloggerhead captures) breachedtheA1Abarriernet.Fourofthesewereremovedfromthecanalattheintrusion barrier,whiletheothertwowerecapturedfurtherupstream.

Bycomparison, atotalofsixgreenandoneKemp'sridley(35and56percent,respectively, oftotalcaptures) circumvented theA1Abarriernetduring1989.Allofthesewereremovedattheplant'sintakewells.RelativeCondition TurtlescapturedaliveintheintakecanaloftheSt.LuciePlantwereassignedarela-tivecondition basedonweight,activity, parasiteinfestation, barnaclecoverage, wounds,injuriesandanyotherabnormalities whichmighthaveaffectedoverallwell-being(Table6).During1989,89.2percent(99)ofallloggerheads foundinthecanalwerealiveandingoodtoexcellent condition.

Only7.2percent(8)ofloggerhead cap-turesinvolvedindividuals infairorpoorcondition; 3.6percent(4)oftheloggerheads removedfromthecanalweredead.32

Ofthe17greenturtlesremovedfromtheintakecanalduring1989,allbutone(94.1percent)wereingoodtoexcellent condition.

Theremaining individual wasdeadwhenrecovered.

Bothhawksbills, theleatherback andoneofthetwoKemp'sridleyswereingoodtoexcellent condition whencaptured.

TheotherKemp'sridleywasinpoorcondition.

4)oOvertheentiremonitoring period,about72and79percent,respectively, ofalllog-gerheadandgreencaptureshaveinvolvedturtlesingoodtoexcellent condition (Table6).Capturesofindividuals infairtopoorcondition haveoccurredabout20percentofthetimeforloggerheads and13percentofthetimeforgreens.Allofthehawksbills andallbutoneleatherback havebeenremovedfromthecanalingoodtoexcellent condition, whileabouthalfoftheKemp'sridleyshavefallenintothesecategories.

Relativecondition ratingscanbeinfluenced byanumberoffactors,somerelatedandothersunrelated toentrainment and/orentrapment intheintakecanal.Ratingsofgoodtoexcellent indicatethatturtleshavenotbeennegatively impactedbytheirentrap-mentinthecanal,atleastasevidenced byphysicalappearance.

Althoughratingsoffairorpoorimplyreducedvitality, theextenttowhichentrainment/entrapment isresponsible isoftenindeterminable.

Insomeinstances, conditions responsible forlowerratings,suchasinjuries, obviously weresustained priortoentrainment.

During1989,onlyfivepercentofallcapturesinvolvedindividuals withnoticeable in-juries,suchasmissingappendages, brokenormissingpiecesofcarapaceanddeeplacerations.

Mostofthesewereold,well-healed wounds.Atleastthreeloggerheads appearedtohavebeenimpactedbyboatcollisions asevidenced bysubstantial 33 l~~~i~~Hg.li carapacedamage.Theywereexaminedbyaveterinarian andreleasedthesameday.Twootherloggerheads wereentangled infishinglineandhadsustained deeplacera-tionsasaresult.~MortiitisDuring1989,4loggerhead mortalities (3.6percentofallloggerhead captures) wererecordedintheintakecanal.Onewasremovedfromthesecurityintrusion barrier,onefromtheA1Abarriernetandtheothertwowerefoundfloatingunobstructed inthecanal.Additionally, asmallgreenturtlewasfounddeadneartheintakewells.Thedeathofoneoftheloggerheads appearstohaveresultedeitherdirectlyorindirectly fromen-tanglement inmonofllament fishingline.Thetwologgerheads removedfromthecon-tainmentnetsmayhavedrowned,butthiscouldnotbepositively established.

Overtheentire14yearmonitoring period,126(7.2percent)ofthe1,741logger-headsand19(6.6percent)ofthe286greenturtlesentrapped inthecanalwerefounddead(Table6).Mortalities spannedtherangeofsizeclassesforloggerheads (SLCL=47.5-103cm),whileallgreenturtlemortalities involvedjuveniles lessthan41cminlength.ThefourKemp'sridleymortalities documented attheplantduring1987and1988weretheonlydeathsforthisspeciestodate;noleatherback orhawksbill mor-talitieshaveoccurredattheSt.LuciePlant.Mortalities havebeencloselymonitored throughout thelifeofthecanalcaptureprograminanattempttoassignprobablecausesandtakeappropriate corrective measurestoreducefutureoccurrences.

Previousanalysesofcapturedataidentified drowninginnets,drowningintheintakepipesduringperiodsofreducedintakeflow,34 l~~f injuriessustained fromdredgingoperations andinjuriessustained fromthemechani-calrakesusedintheintakewellsasprobablemortality factors(ABl,1987).Althoughdifficult toquantify, theentrapment andsubsequent demiseofinjuredorsickturtlesprobablyaccountsforaportionofobservedmortalities.

Mostrecentmortalities intheintakecanalapparently resultedfromdrownings attheA1Abarriernetandthenewlyconstructed securityintrusion barrier.Adramaticin-creaseinloggerhead mortalities between1985and1986(Table2)wasthoughttohavebeenrelatedtoadjustments madetotheA1Abarriernetduringthelatterpartof1985(ABI,1987).Presumably, theseadjustments increased theprobability ofaturtledrown-ing.Anewbarriernetinstalled inNovember1987apparently corrected previousproblems, asonlyonemortality hasbeenrecordedattheA1Abridgesince.Thatmor-talityoccurredduring1989.However,itcouldnotbedetermined iftheloggerhead drownedasaresultofentanglement inthebarriernetorifitwasdeadbeforedriftingintothenet.During1989,sixturtleswiderthan35.0cmbreachedtheA1Abarriernetandenteredthewesternportionoftheintakecanalwherecaptureeffortsarelesseffective.

Allwereloggerheads.

Fourwerehandcapturedatthesecurityintrusion barrier,whiletheothertwowereremovedfurtherupstream.

Previousobservations suggested thatsickorin-juredturtlesmaybemoresusceptible todrowningattheintrusion barrierthanhealthyturtles(ABI,1988).Ofthefourloggerheads recovered attheintrusion barrierduring1989,onlyonewasdead.Similartopreviousmortalities, thisoneinvolvedanapparent-lyunderweight individual, suggesting thatitmayhavebeeninpoorhealthatthetimeofentrapment.

l~~g~~~i~

RecatureIncidents SincetheSt.LuciePlantcaptureprogrambegan,mostturtlesremovedalivefromtheintakecanalhavebeentaggedandreleasedintothe-ocean atvariouslocations alongHutchinson Island.Consequently, individual turtlescanbeidentified aslongastheyretaintheirtags.Overthe14yearhistoryofturtleentrapment attheSt.LuciePlant,56individuals (55loggerheads and1green)havebeenremovedfromthecanalmorethanonce.Severalotherturtleswithtagscarshavealsobeenremoved,indicating thattheactualnumberofrecaptures maybehigher.Ofthe55individual loggerheads knowntohavebeencaughtmorethanonce,41werecaughttwice,sixwerecaughtthreetimes,fourwerecaughtfourtimes,twowerecapturedsixtimes,onewascaughtseventimesandonewascaughtonnineseparateoccasions, yieldingatotalof89recapture incidents.

Releasesitedidnotappeartohaveanyeffectonaturtle'sprobability ofbeingrecaptured.

Turtlesreleasedbothnorthandsouthoftheplantreturned.

Recaptures alsodidnotappeartoberelatedtosize,asbothjuveniles andadultswerecapturedmorethanonce(rangeofSLCL=47-89cm).However,themajorityofrecapture incidents involvedjuveniles andsub-adults (SLCL<70cm).Recapture intervals forloggerheads rangedfromfourto858days,withameanof161days(+175.4days).Theonlygreenturtlecaughtmorethanoncewascapturedontwooccasions, returning tothecanal59daysafterfirstbeingreleasedintotheocean.About53percentofallloggerhead recapture incidents occurredwithin90daysofpreviouscaptureand90percentwithinoneyear(Figure21).Theaverageinterval36 Sl betweenfirstandlastcapturewas264days(+322.2days).Thelongestperiodbe-tweenfirstandlastcapturewas5.3years.Thesedatasuggestthatresidency timesofloggerheads withinthenearshore habitatadjacenttotheSt.LuciePlantarerelatively short.Similarfindingshavebeenreportedforloggerheads inhabiting theMosquito/In-dianRiverLagoonsofeast-central Florida(Mendonca andEhrhart,1982).SUMMARYAgradientofincreasing loggerhead turtlenestdensities fromnorthtosouthalongthenorthernhalfofHutchinson Islandhasbeenshownduringallsurveyyears.Thisgradientmayresultfromvariations inbeachtopography, offshoredepthcontours, dis-tribution ofnearshore reefs,onshoreartificial lightingandhumanactivityonthebeach-atnight.Lownestingactivityinthevicinityofthepowerplantduring1975andfrom1981through1983wasattributed toconstruction ofpowerplantintakeanddischarge systems.Nestingreturnedtonormalorabovenormallevelsfollowing bothperiodsofconstruction.

Powerplantoperation, exclusive ofintake/discharge construction, hashadnosignificant effectonnestdensities.

Therehavebeenconsiderable year-to-year fluctuations inloggerhead nestingac-tivityonHutchinson Islandfrom1971through1989.Fluctuations arecommonatotherrookeries andmayresultfromoverlapping ofnon-annual breedingpopulations.

Despitethesefluctuations, loggerhead nestingactivityhasremainedrelatively highduringthelasteightyears.Norelationship betweentotalnestingontheislandandpowerplantoperation orintake/discharge construction wasindicated.

37 lf Temporary declinesinloggerhead nestingactivityhavebeenattributed tocoolwaterintrusions thatfrequently occuroverthecontinental shelfofsoutheast Florida.ThoughtemporalnestingpatternsoftheHutchinson Islandpopulation maybeinfluenced bynaturalfluctuations inwatertemperature, nosignificant effectsduetopowerplantoperation havebeenindicated.

Sincenestingsurveysbeganin1971,raccoonpredation wasconsidered themajorcauseofturtlenestdestruction onHutchinson Island.From1971through1977,over-allpredation ratesintheninesurveyareaswerebetween21and44percent.However,apronounced decreaseinraccoonpredation occurredafter1977,andoverallpreda-tionratesintheninesurveyareashavenotexceededtenpercentsince1979.Decreased predation byraccoonsprobablyreflectsadeclineintheraccoonpopula-tion.During1989,45greenturtleand36leatherback turtlenestswererecordedonHutchinson Island.Greenturtlenestingactivityexhibited considerable annualfluctua-tions,ashasbeenrecordedatotherrookeries, buthasremainedrelatively highduringthelastsevenyears.Leatherback turtlenestdensities haveremainedlowonHutchin-sonIsland;however,increased nestingduringrecentyearsmayreflectanoverallin-creaseinthenumberofnestingfemalesintheHutchinson Islandarea.During1989,111loggerheads, 17greenturtles,1leatherback; 2hawksbills and2Kemp'sridleyswereremovedfromtheSt.LuciePlantintakecanal~Sincemonitoring beganinMay1976,1,741loggerhead, 286green,9leatherback, 8hawksbill and17Kemp'sridleyturtleshavebeencaptured.

Overthelifeofthemonitoring program,38 l

annualcatchesforloggerhead turtleshaverangedfrom33in1976(partialyearofplantoperation andmonitoring) toahighof195in1986.Yearlycatchesofgreenturtleshaverangedfrom0in1976to69in1984.Differences inthenumberofturtlesentrapped duringdifferent yearsandmonthsareattributed tonaturalvariation intheoccurrence ofturtlesinthevicinityoftheoffshoreintakestructures, ratherthantoanyinfluence ofYtheplantitself.Size-class distributions ofloggerhead turtlesremovedeachyearfromthecanalhaveconsistently beenpredominated byjuveniles andsub-adults between50and70cminstraightlinecarapacelength.Mostgreenturtlesentrapped inthecanal(about80per-cent)werejuveniles 40cmorlessinlength.Forbothspecies,thelargestnumberofcapturesforallyearscombinedoccurredduringthewinter,buttheseseasonalpeaksweremuchmorepronounced forgreenturtles.Sexratiosofbothadultandimmatureloggerheads caughtinthecanalcontinued tobebiasedtowardsfemales.During1989,about89percentofallloggerheads andgreenturtlesremovedfromthecanalwerecategorized byphysicalappearance asbeingingoodtoexcellent con-dition.Overtheentire14yearmonitoring period,72and79percent,respectively, ofallloggerhead andgreenturtlecaptureshaveinvolvedindividuals inthesecategories; 20percentoftheloggerheads and13percentofthegreenturtlesremovedfromthecanalhavebeeninfairorpoorcondition.

Onlyfivepercentoftheturtlesremovedfromtheintakecanalduring1989hadsub-stantialinjuries.

Itappearedthatmostoftheseinjuriesweresustained priortoentrap-ment.Onceinthecanal,turtlesconfinedeastofA1Ausuallyhadverybriefresidency 39 4

timesandthustherelativecondition ofmostturtleswasnotaffectedbytheirentrap-ment.During1989,6loggerheads, 6greenturtlesand1Kemp'sridleyswamwestoftheA1Abridge.Mostoftheloggerheads wereretrieved atthesecurityintrusion bar-rier.AllofthegreenturtlesandtheKemp'sridleywereremovedfromthecanalattheintakewells.Sincemonitoring began,about8percentofallloggerhead and48per-centofallgreenturtlecaptureshaveoccurredattheintakewells.During1989,onegreenandfourloggerhead mortalities wererecordedforthein-takecanal.Twoofthesedeathsappearedtohaveresultedfromdrowning, whileathirdmayhaveresultedfromentanglement inmonofilament fishingline.Sinceintakecanalmonitoring beganin1976,7.2percentoftheloggerheads and6.6percentofthegreenturtlesremovedfromthecanalweredead.ThefourKemp'sridleymortalities in1987and1988weretheonlydeathsrecordedforthisspeciessincemonitoring began.Alloftheleatherbacks andhawksbills entrapped intheintakecanalattheSt.LuciePlanthavebeencapturedaliveandreleasedintotheocean.

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FloridaMarineResearchPublica-tions23:25-85.47

orth,D.F.,andJ.B.Smith.1976.MarineturtlenestingonHutchinson Island,Florida,in1973.FloridaMarineResearchPublications 18:1-17.

II GULF.OFMEXICO00FP+0Q4OoooC14INOYAROSKtlOMETERS SCALCr~~-N-'P00St.LuciaPlantFigure1.LocationoftheSt.LuciePlant.

IIIIII

'1~Ij~4l~-','UTCHINSON ISLAND.~."r~11'~'~~tr~1JlV~0<QF~Vg'1~1y\~'~gO~ie~@500~qP0250500METERS.r.1~'

(vtwO'"'c"~'NTAKE4':-,;'ELLSINTRUSION BARRIER~u:qG~)'DISCHARGE

@G'-..PIPESINTAKE'<:.

HEADWALL'.

INTAKESTRUCTURES BARRIER:NET'i.-,Cl'vINTAKECANAL~~Figure2.St.LuciePlantcoolingwaterintakeanddischarge system.

ePLPierceInleteAI~"eeAle0'Qbb,e0EeIStateHwyA0ee'e,ttb1HQ23N40FPLST.LUCIEPLANTUSHwyI0w/6zgBBCCDDEE8FFREERGG~1RS~4TUeeescaHHe"-t90Skm~SLLucieInletFigure3.Designation andlocationofnine1.25-kmsegmentsandthirty-six 1-kmsegmentssurveyedforseaturtlenesting,Hutchinson Island,1971-1989.

8~lg~51 350300250(0z0200CCZ15010050123456789NORTHPOWERPLANTSOUTHFigure4.Meanannualnumberofloggerhead turtlenestsineachofthenine1.25-km-long surveyareas,Hutchinson Island,1971-1988, comparedwithnumberofnestsduring1989.Horizontal linesaremeans,boxesencloseplusorminusonestandarddeviation, verticallinesareranges,andclosedcirclesare1989values(1980datawereexcludedbecausenotallareasweresurveyed).

'I~~1$~

300250200COz150Dz10050A8CDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGH IJABCDEFGHIJNORTH0POWERPLANTSOUTHFigure5.Meanannualnumberofloggerhead turtlenestsineachofthethirty-six 1-km-Iong surveyareas,Mutchinson Island,1981-1988, comparedwithnumberofnestsduring1989.Horizontal linesaremeans,boxesencloseplusorminusonestandarddeviation, verticallinesareranges,andclosedcirclesare1989values.

600500400Oz30020010ABCDEFGHIJKLlvINOPQRSTUVWXYZA8CDEFGHIJABCDEFGHIJNORTHPOWERPLANTSOUTHFigure6..Meanannualnumberofloggerhead turtleemergences ineachofthethirty-six 1-km-Iong surveyareas,Hutchinson Island,1981-1988,comparedwiththenumberofemergences during1989.Horizontal linesaremeans,boxesencloseplusorminusonestandarddeviation, verticallinesareranges,andclosedcirclesare1989values.

10080gCOCOOOg60GzI-COLU4020ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS TUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJABCDEFGHIJNORTHf'OWERPLANTSOUTHFigure7.Meanannualloggerhead turtlenestingsuccess(percentage ofemergences thatresultedinnests)foreachofthethirty-six 1-km-longsurveyareas,Hutchinson Island,19814988, comparedwithnestingsuccessduring1989.Horizontal linesaremeans,boxesencloseplusorminusonestandarddeviation, verticallinesareranges,andclosedcirclesare1989values.

I 300250o-oArea4(PowerPlantSite)e--eArea5(ControlSite)200COI-ZO150Kz100/N///////501971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989Figure8.Numberofloggerhead turtlenestsinareas4and5,Hutchinson Island,1971-1989.

Arrowsdenoteyearsduringwhichintake/discharge construction occurredinarea4.

5000040000300020001000M10000Oz(g8000~6000g4000l:>>i200080604020198119821983198419851986198719881989Figure9.Annualnumberofnests,numberofemergences andnestingsuccessalongtheentire36.lhkm-long Atlanticcoastline ofHutchinson Island,1981-1989.

3028O2624t-222018120SO(0Zp60KZ3001530515APRMAY30515JUN30515JUL30515AUG30515SEPFigure10,Dailyloggerhead turtlenestingactivityandwatertemperature, Hutchinson Island,1989.

'I 706050O0K~40OCOzcL-30Dz2016%P(YlImR%33%glI::II:'Itly)rNIekjI24%2232%23'/9Destroyed byghostcrabsDestroyed byraccoonsandghostcrabsQrtttrDestroyed byraccoons102%Q@mmmNPNNI!3II~rX%6%c8%881%1%2%1%ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS TUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJABCDEFGH,I JNORTHPOWERPLANTSOUTHFigure11.Numberofloggerhead turtlenestsdestroyed byraccoonsandghostcrabsandpercentage ofnestsdestroyed ineach1-km-long surveyarea,Hutchinson Island,1989.

7560I-(045z30z15o---oGreen(Chelonia mydas)8-0Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) 8g~//IX-/I//I//I/I~/(/IIIIIIIIIII\019711973197519771979198119821983198419851986198719881989figure12.'nnual numbersofgreenturtleandleatherback turtlenests,Hutchinson Island,1971-1989.

200~-aLOGGERHEAD (Carettacaretta)p---WGREEN(Chelonia midas)80175150O125G01007550Z25////plUIIIIII\pi/p7060O50z4030mm201019761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989Figure13.Numberofloggerhead andgreenturtlesremovedeachyearfromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

5050cO40KDCLOLL30ZZ204030201010JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDECMONTHOFCAPTUREFigure14.Meannumberofloggerheads capturedeachmonth,St.LuciePlantintakecanal,1977-1988, comparedwithnumberofmonthlycapturesduring1989.Horizontal linesaremeans,boxesencloseplusorminusonestandarddeviation, verticallinesareranges,andclosedcirclesare1989values.

II 350350300300250250MDD5200OZ0Kco150D20015010010050504041-4546-5051-5556-6061-6566-7071-7576-8081-8586-9091-9596-101-106->110STRAIGHTLINECARAPACELENGTH(cm)100105110Figure15.Lengthdistribution (SLCL)ofloggerhead seaturtles(N=1,580) removedforthefirsttimefromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

Nodatacollected for72individuals.

I 350300300250OD2000KCOD1502502001501001005050~1011-2021-3031-4041-5051-6061-7071-8081-9091-100101-111-121-131-141-~150'W/ElGHT(kcj)110120130140150Figure16.Weightdistribution ofliveloggerhead seaturtles(¹1,387)removedforthefirsttimefromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

Nodataavailable for265individuals.

12012010010080DDD600KLLJKlD408060402020-1516-21-26-31-36-41-46-51-56-61-66-71-76-81-86-91-96-101-106->11020253035404550556065707580859095100105110STRAIGHTLINECARAPACELENGTH(cm)Figure17.Lengthdistribution (SLCL)ofgreenturtles(N=276)removedforthefirsttimefromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

Nodatacollected for9individuals.

II 200200180180160Do140CIz120mm100D80160140120100806060404020201-56-1011-1516-2021-2526-3031-3536-4041-4546-50WEIGHT(kg)51-100101-150151-200)200Figure18.Weightdistribution ofgreenturtles(N=271)removedforthefirsttimefromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

Nodatacollected for14individuals.

b 60MALESFEMALES605050MD400CIZ0K30Dz403020201010JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDECMONTHOFCAPTUREFigure19.Numbersofadultloggerheads (SLCL>80.0cm),including recaptures, removedeachmonthfromtheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989.

(N=297)

II

~-~CANALCAPTURES'000---0EMERGENCES OILIKI-Q.OCOrlJI-CI0CL03ZzZ403020100PrK/0///////0////////IA3400300200100ZCOOZGCL0KZZZ19761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989Figure2D.Comparison ofcapturesofadultfemaleloggerheads intheintakecanal,St.LuciePlant,1976-1989, andnumbersofloggerhead emergences inarea4adjacenttotheplant.Nestingactivitywasnotmonitored in1976and1978.

IIrgiIII 10080Gz60I-DDO4020~Or~A///0//II0/4//IIIIIItIIIIIIIIIIII~-------~Intervalbetweensuccessive capturesIntervalbetweenfirstandlastcapture'008060402025050075010001250RECAPTURE INTERVAL(days)150017502000Figure21.Cumulative percentage ofallloggerhead recaptures occurring withinvarioustimeintervals betweensuccessive captures(N=87)andfirstandlastcapture(N=53),St.LuciePlantintakecanal1976-1989.

IIII TABLE1ESTIMATES OFTHENUMBERSOFLOGGERHEAD TURTLENESTSONHUTCHINSON ISLANDBASEDONSURVEYSOFNINE1.25-KM-LONG SURVEYAREAS,1971-1989, COMPAREDTOTHEACTUALNUMBEROFNESTSONTHEISLAND,1981-1989 Year19711973197519771979198119821983198419851986198719881989Numberofnestsinthenine14201260149393214491031163415921439162318391645170117741.25-km-long surveyareasExtrapolation fromthenine41753704438927404260303148044680423147725407483650015216surveyareastotheentireisland(seetext)Actualnumberofnestsontheentireisland311546904743427748775483462349905193

TA0TOTALNUMBEROFSEATURTLECAPTURESAND(NUMBEROFDEAD)TURTLESREMOVEDFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989Year19761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989oeread33(4)80(5)138(19)172(13)116(5)62(5)101(16)119(4)148(3)157(4)195(27)175(11)134(6)111(4)reen5(2)6(1)3(1)10(3)32(2)23(4)69(2)1422(i)3542(2)17(i)Secieseaterbackhawsb>Kemsrsde6(2)5(2)Total33(4)86(7)-148(20)175(14)126(8)97(7)110(16)142(8)220(5)172(4)220(28)218(13)181(10)133(5)Total1741(126) 286(19)9(0)8(0)i>(4)2061(149)

AnnualMeana131.422.00.70.61.3156.0Excludes1976(partialyearofplantoperation).

1Lgigi~I TABLE3TOTALNUMBERAND(NUMBEROFDEAD)LOGGERHEAD TURTLESREMOVEDEACHMONTHFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989Month19761977197819791980198119821983Januaryfebruary131924(3)1611(1)6(2)398(1)11(2)29(1)21(2)11(3)1113(1)MarchAprilMay727(2)11145(2)19(5)170213(1)0761410140617(4)4June05103(1)8(3)677(1)July7(1)4027(2)017August231216(2)12September 115(1)18(1)19OctoberNovemberDecember79(1)17(2)15(3)75(3)515(7)12495410862(1)62(1)9(1)8(2)09(5)1704(2)531(1)12Total33(4)80(5)138(19)172(13)116(5)62(5)101(16)119(4)

E3(continued)

TOTALNUMBERAND(NUMBEROFDEAD)LOGGERHEAD TURTLESREMOVEDEACHMONTHFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989MonthMonthlyPercentof198419851986198719881989TotalMeanTotalCatchJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJune13llll156202(l)1371628(1)1715(2)-26(3)16(4)ll713213(11)16.410(3)6173(17)13.31223(1)281320(1)26(1)3016139(6)9.9183(8)13.114(4)8(1)114(2)143(9)11.020(2)24(3)13(2)11148(15)11.412.510.18.48.78.010.7JulyAugustSeptember OctoberNovemberDecember161410793829(4)11(2)1012(1)20(3)26(2)19(1)2619(1)34(6)17(1)23117(13)8.455(1)85(13)6.19292(1)6.6521(1)156(11)11.1315173(11)12.411(1)2119(11)8.58.710.06.96.44.74.9Total148(3)157(4)195(27)175(11)134(6)111(4)1741(126)

Excludes1976(partialyearofplantoperation).

II TABLE4TOTALNUMBERAND(NUMBEROFDEAD)GREENTURTLESREMOVEDEACHMONTHFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989MonthJanuaryFebruary197619771978197919801981210020(1)2(1)215(1)7198219838(1)MarchApril021(1)004(1)11(1)013(2)MayJuneJulyAugustSeptember OctoberNovemberDecemberl(l)0011(1)002(1)4(1)Total5(2)6(1)3(1)10(3)32(2)23(4)

IIII TAB4(continued)

TOTALNUMBERAND(NUMBEROFDEAD)GREENTURTLESREMOVEDEACHMONTHFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989MonthMonthlyPercentof198419851986198719881989TotalMeanTotalCatchJanuaryFebruaryMarch1011.116(1)37(1)4141245(2)30(4)3.52.315.710.53(1)93(4)7.232.5AprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember OctoberNovemberDecember4(l)1336(2)18(2)8(i)i7(3)9(i)1218(2)231.40.61.20.60.60.40.91.31.66.32.85.92.83.11.74.26.38.0Total69(2)1422(1)3542(2)17(1)286(19)

I.Il TA5NUMBEROFMONTHLYCAPTURESBYSIZECLASSFORLOGGERHEAD TURTLESREMOVEDFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1977-1989aSizeclasses(SLCLincmbMonthJuveniles/Sub-Adults 41-5051-6061-70TotalPercentaeTransition Adults71-80Percentae81-9091-100>100TotalPercentaeJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilcnMayJuneJulyAugustSeptember OctoberNovemberDecemberTotalXofTotal1672575413711.817481139.7161210444849105329094643984343481424548963785735307220244853326649556849811619.0197.7118.4137.0128.3207.3126.2184.1185.5918870.7837317214.82312.29.08.510.15.86.96.410.66.49.69.64.811.410162733141722010604017020325317192114140121233645551181610110112934.12.42.74.111.321.918.817.46.15.53.42.417.8aExcludes 1976(partialyearofdata)bNodatawerecollected for66individuals.

IIIII SRTA6RELATIVECONDITION OFSEATURTLESREMOVEDFROMTHEINTAKECANALST.LUCIEPLANT1976-1989Relativecondition LoerheadsNumberGreensNumberLeatherbacks NumberKem'sridlesNumberHawksbills NumberAllseciesNumber34419.89934.647927.526515.2.814.71267.2100.6.7827.32910.172.4196.651.7<43625.04917.1111.1211.8666.7111.1317.6317.6211.8423.51ll131766750452219225.049123.856627.529814.5904.41497-2150.7TOTAL1741286172061.1Excellent

-normalorabovenormalweight,active,veryfewornobarnacles orleeches,nowounds.2Verygood-intermediate goodtoexcellent.

3Good-normalweight,active,lighttomediumcoverageofbarnacles and/orleeches,woundsabsent,healedordonotappeartodebilitate theanimal.4Fair5Poor-intermediate'oor togood.-emaciated, sloworinactive, heavybarnaclecoverageand/orleechinfestation, debilitating woundsormissingappendages.

6Dead7Alivebutotherwise condition notrecorded.

I FLORIDAPOWER8cLIGHTCOMPANYST.LUCIEUN%NO.2ANNUALENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT(FPL49)VOLUMEII

ANNUALENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORTIntroduction TheSt.LucieUnit2Environmental Protection Plan(EPP)requiresthesubmittal ofanannualreportforvariousactivities attheplantsiteincluding thereporting onseaturtlemonitoring

programs, andothermattersrelatedtoFederalandStateenvironmental permitsandcertifications.

ThisreportandVolumeIIdescribed belowfulfillthesereporting requirements.

II.SeaTurtleMonitorin andAssociated Activities Areportonaquaticandterrestrial seaturtlemonitoring programstosatisfySections4.2.1(BeachNestingSurveys),

4.2.3(StudiestoEvaluateand/orMitigateIntakeCanalMortality) and4.2.5(CaptureandReleaseProgram)isconcurrently submitted inaseparatereport(AB-603,Vol.II)preparedbyAppliedBiology,Inc.ofJensenBeach,FloridaandAtlanta,Georgia.Studiestoevaluateand/ormitigateintakeentrapment requiredbySection4.2.2oftheEPPhavebeenpreviously performed.

Afinalreportwassubmitted totheOfficeofNuclearReactorRegulation onApril18,1985.Withsubmittal ofthatreport,theEPPrequirement wasfulIiiled andwillnotbereaddressed inthisorfuturereports.Surveillance andmaintenance ofthelightscreentominimizeseaturtledisorientation asrequiredbySection4.2.4oftheEPPisongoing.TheAustralian Pinelightscreen,locatedonthebeachdunebetweenthepowerplantandtheocean,isroutinely surveyedto IIIII determine itsoverallvitality.

Thetreelineissurveyedforanygapsoccurring fromtreemortality, whichwouldresultinunacceptable lightlevelsonthebeach.Treesarereplacedasnecessary tomaintaintheoverallintegrity ofthelightscreen.III.OtherRoutineReortsThefollowing itemsforwhichreporting isrequiredarelistedbysectionnumberfromtheplant'sEnvironmental Protection Plan(EPP):5.4.1.(a)

EPPNONCOMPLIANCES ANDCORRECTIVE ACTIONSTAKENNononcompliances underEPPSection5.4.1(a)weredetermined tohaveoccurredduring1989.5.4.1.(b)

STATIONDESIGNANDOPERATION CHANGESTESTSANDEXPERIMENTS AFFECTING THEENVIRONMENT Noplantsiteactivities weredetermined tobereportable underSection5.4.1(b)during1989.5.4.1.(c)

NONROUTINE REPORTSSUBMIITED TOTHENRCFORTHEYEAR18INACCORDANCE WITHEPPSUBSECTION 5..2:1.Submittal ofanNPDESPermitmodification requesttoEPA;sumittedtotheNRConApril13,1989.

2.Reportconcerning anexceedance oftheNPDESPermitlimitation forpHfromtheUnit1SewageTreatment Planteffluent; reportedtotheNRConMay11,1989.3.Reportconcerning anexceedance oftheNPDESPermitlimitation forfreeavailable oxidantsintheoncethroughcoolingwaterdischarge; reportedtotheNRConJune7,1989.4.Reportconcerning anexceedance oftheNPDESPermitlimitation forironfromtheradwastesystemeffluent; reportedtotheNRConJuly17,1989.5.Reportconcerning anexceedance oftheNPDESPermitlimitation formaximumoncethroughcoolingwaterdischarge temperature (discharge canalterminus);

reportedtotheNRConOctober16,1989.Thefollowing reportsweresubmitted totheNRCfortheyear1989forinformational purposesalthoughnotrequiredunderprovisions ofEPPsubsection 5.4.2:1.Seaturtleactivities reportdatedApril24,1989forthefirstquarter1989.2.Seaturtleactivities reportdatedAugust2,1989forthesecondquarter1989.3.Seaturtleactivities reportdatedNovember2,1989forthethirdquarter1989.4.Seaturtleactivities reportdatedJanuary23,1990forthefourthquarter1989.