ML11258A258

August 2011 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report

ML11258A258
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/04/2011
From:	Weege S Inwater Research Group
To:	Koperski M State of FL, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Balsam B
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From:Stephen Weege To:Meghan Koperski Cc:Bob Hoffman; Dave Niebch; Dave Clark; RidsNrrDlr Resource; Ed Hollowell; Jodie Gless; Ken Frehafer; Mike Bresette; Shelley Norton; Vince Munne

Subject:

August 2011 FPL Marine Turtle Removal Monthly Report Date:Sunday, September 04, 2011 3:05:35 PM Attachments:August 2011 Marine Turtle Captures.rtfMonthly Report Notes 2011.xlsFPL St. Lucie Capture Summary 2011.xls

Dear Meghan,

Attached, please find the monthly summary of marine turtle removals for August 2011.

This month, wecaptured thirteen (13) Caretta caretta and one (1) Chelonia mydas in the intake canal of the St. Lucie power plant on Hutchinson Island.

This includes one loggerhead hatchling entrained during HurricaneIrene and recovered by Underwater Engineering Services (UESI) on the night of August 25th.

Thehatchling was found east of the 5-inch barrier net and was released unharmed.

There were two non-causal mortalities during the month of August.

On the 1st, a juvenile green turtlewas recovered from the surface of the temporary 5-inch barrier net in the morning.

The animal wasunderweight, with no other wounds or abnormalities.

The turtle was transported on ice to theLoggerhead Marinelife Center (MLC) by Inwater Research Group (IRG) personnel for necropsy.

Thepreliminary determination by IRG biologists was that the animal had drowned during entrainment and that this incident was likely causal to power plant operations.

This was later changed to a non-causalevent after the final determination was made by veterinarian Nancy Mettee (following gross necropsyand pathology reports).

The second non-causal event occurred on the 20th of August.

A skeletal carapace and lower jaw werefound on the bottom of the intake canal during an in-water survey.

The lower jaw confirmed that theseverely decomposed animal was a loggerhead sea turtle.

The remains were not salvaged and themeasurements had to be estimated.

This animal was most likely entrained into the canal postmortem.

This incident was considered non-causal to power plant operations.

Throughout the month, the 5" barrier net experienced negligible to severe loads of algae and jellyfishthat entered into the intake canal.

On August 20th, there was a severe jellyfish intrusion that lastedthrough the end of the month.

UESI divers were deployed that same day and continued 24-hourmonitoring and cleaning of the temporary barrier net into September.

Even still, the temporary 5-inchbarrier net was breached on the first day of the intrusion event.

The entire span of the net was up to12-inches underwater.

The net was submerged again, but to a lesser degree, on the 21st and 22nd of August. Helicopter surveys were initiated by FPL's Department of Land Utilization to monitor theprogression of the jellyfish event offshore (up to two miles out; between the Jupiter and Fort Pierce

Inlets). To lessen the potential impact of this event on entrained sea turtles, IRG biologists havecontinued the increased monitoring of algae and jellyfish, as well as amplified hand capture efforts.

Despite the heavy influx of debris and the issueswith the temporary barrier net, no turtles have been observed beyond the 5-inch net.

A permanent fixfor the primary net continues to remain in the design phase.

The tag numbers and morphometric data for all turtles are attached.

Also included is a spreadsheet forall captures, mortalities, injuries, and causal events delineated by species and by month for 2011.

Thisspreadsheet 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, Steve

Steve WeegeSr. Environmental SpecialistInwater Research Group, Inc.4160 NE Hyline Dr.Jensen Beach, FL 34957 sweege@inwater.org(772) 349-7252