Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation

HABITATS AND BAD HABITS OF YOUNG LOGGERHEAD TURTLES IN THE OPEN OCEAN
Blair E. Witherington Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Marine Research Institute, 9700 South A1A, Melbourne Beach, Florida 32951 U.S.A. spinnaker@prodigy.net This study seeks to provide additional information on the pelagic ecology of neonate sea turtles found in the Atlantic Ocean near the western Florida Current off Florida. Post-hatchling loggerheads (Caretta caretta), at sizes of 4178 mm straight carapace-length, are commonly found in this area and have been reported on elsewhere (Witherington, 1994). Elements of this study include a description of the oceanographic features where post-hatchling loggerhead turtles are found, an analysis of post-hatchling catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), a comparison of items recently eaten by post-hatchling loggerhead turtles to items collected from the surrounding water, and a description of the prevalence of plastics and tar in the mouths, esophagi, and stomachs of captured post-hatchling loggerheads. STUDY AREA/PERIOD Eighteen trips were made to a region of the Atlantic, east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, near the 40 fathom contour at approximately 28.5 N and 80.0 W. The region is approximately 25-40 nautical miles east of the Florida coast near the western wall of the Florida Current. Trips were made during the period of hatchling emergence activity on nearby nesting beaches and spanned the period of 22 July through 1 October 1997. HABITAT Habitat was surveyed on board the R/V Excellent Fishe II, a 6.5 m cuddy cabin with a 150 hp outboard motor. Within the study area, lines of debris were targeted that indicated regions of surface-water downwelling. These areas of potential neonate sea turtle habitat were characterized by taking measurements of position (latitude and longitude), water-surface temperature, conductivity, and current speed and direction at points located 0. 1 nautical mile on either side of the debris line. Temperature and conductivity were measured with a YSI model 30 meter and current measurements were made by tracking a current drogue with a Garman global positioning receiver. Additional notes were made describing density of Sargassum and other debris, width of the debris line, orientation of the debris line relative to wind direction, and weather and sea conditions. Three types of debris lines were surveyed and were found to contain neonate turtles. The first habitat type included oceanic fronts which were evident as shear boundaries between water masses having different temperature, conductivity, and current characteristics. A second habitat type included slicks, which are produced by the downwelling above and behind the crests of large, slow-moving, ther34

mocline waves and are evident as lines of foam and debris adjacent to or within an area of calm surface water. A third habitat type included windrows, which are produced by wind-generated Langmuir circulation cells and are evident as closely aligned rows of debris that are oriented parallel with wind direction. These habitat types were not mutually exclusive. For instance, fronts and slicks that contained turtles commonly broke up into windrows when the wind became greater than 10-15 knots. CATCH-PER-UNIT-EFFORT Timed searches for neonate turtles were made as the research vessel moved at idle speed (approximately 2.5 knots) through the center of a debris line. After turtles were observed, an attempt was made to capture them using a dip net or similar device. Some turtles were observed and identified to species and size class but not captured. A total of 293 post-hatchling loggerhads were observed during timed searches (n=24.0 search-hours). No neonate green turtles (Chelonia mydas) were observed, which is surprising given that 1-5% of all hatchlings leaving eastcoast Florida beaches are green turtles. Mean CPUE divided among six bi-weekly periods between 15 July and 15 October ranged from 31.4 turtles/hour (in early August) to 0.0 turtles/hour (in early October). The mean CPUE for the study period was 12.4 turtles/hour. FORAGING HABITS Sixty-six post-hatchling loggerheads were captured in a way that allowed the simultaneous collection of the floating material surrounding them (referred to as outside samples). The device used for this was a funnel net which consisted of a funnel of 500 micron stainless steel mesh connected to a 300 micron mesh removable sample bag. The net sampled an approximately 30 cm radius around the captured turtle. Each turtle captured in this way received a gastric lavage in order to flush a sample of recently eaten items from its stomach and esophagus (referred to as inside samples). The material collected from around each turtle and the sample of flushed items from the lavage were bagged and iced for later identifications on shore. The mean wet-weight of the surrounding material from 66 post-hatchling captures was 79. 6 g (0.0-490. 1 g, SD=117.7 g). All but one of the 66 turtles had measurable amounts of material nearby and measurable lavage samples were obtained from all but one turtle. After weighing, large samples (such as most of the outside samples) were first reduced in size by randomly di-

Developmental Habitats and Habits / Oral presentations

F. A. Abreu-Grobois, R. Briseo, R. Mrquez, and L. Sarti (Compilers)

viding them and discarding portions selected by coin toss. Samples were cut until they fit easily onto a 8.4 cm2 grid (6 x 6) of filter paper. After samples were drained on the filter paper, a clear acrylic plate with a 6 x 6 grid etched into it, was placed over the sample on the filter paper. One centimeter posts supporting the acrylic plate kept the plate from crushing the sample. The sample was then placed on the stage of a binocular dissecting microscope with a 10 x 10 square graticule in one eyepiece. The sample was surveyed by matching the outer margin of the graticule grid to each of the 36 squares of an etched acrylic plate overlying the sample. Descriptions of items to the lowest possible taxon were made for four graticule intercept-points at each of the 36 overlying grid squares. In smaller samples (such as in all of the inside samples) the entire contents of the sample was surveyed and all graticule intercept points were examined.
Table 1. Availability of items recovered from the water surrounding 66 post-hatchling loggerhead turtles (outside samples) and from gastric lavage samples from the same group of turtles (inside samples). Availability is represented as the proportion of identifications made at surveyed grid-intercept-points (see text).
% of Intercept Points Outside Samples Inside Samples (N=3479) (N=1006) Plants Sea Grasses Sargassum Other Algae 15.4 35.7 8.8 4.9 8.1 7.4

cipally Portunus), and shrimps (principally Latreutes). A third category included flying insects. A fourth included pelagic animals not closely associated with the Sargassum community such as Janthina and Creseis (planktonic shelled-gastropods), Porpita (a siphonophore), Halobates (a pelagic hemipteran), and Pelagia (a medusa). A fifth category included less common items, anthropogenic debris, and unidentified material. A t-test for dependent samples run on transformed proportions (yt=arcsiny) revealed that inside samples were different from outside samples for each of the item groups in Table 1 (alpha=0.05). The comparison of inside and outside samples indicated that post-hatchling loggerheads have a preference for animal material over plant material. Some animal food items apparently preferred and/or easily obtainable by posthatchlings included hydroids, copepods, and pelagic animals not commonly associated with the Sargassum community. Animals apparently not preferred and/or not easily obtainable included Sprorbis, Membranipora, and the group comprising fishes, crabs, and shrimp. PREVALENCE OF PLASTIC AND TAR Turtles from which gastric lavage samples were taken were also examined for the presence of tar in the oral cavity. Tar-like material adhering to the jaws of sampled turtles was removed with a wooden toothpick and tested for solubility in dichloromethane (DCM). Dark, tacky, and DCMsoluble material was categorized as tar. Data on the prevalence of tar and plastic in the 66 post-hatchling loggerheads were grouped with data obtained from post-hatchling loggerheads captured in 1993. Of the 168 turtles in the twoyear sample, 46% had tar present in lavage samples and/or in oral-cavity samples and 15% had plastic present in these samples. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding for this project was provided by the National Marine Fisheries Service and by the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commissions Nongame Wildlife Program. Tar samples were analyzed with the aid of Ted VanVleet and Dana Wetzel of the University of South Florida. Assistance with laboratory work and with captures at sea came from David Arnold, Dean Bagley, Layne Bolen, Kristin Fick, Shigitomo Hirama, Matilde Lores, Sandy Macpherson, Beth Morford, Andrea Mosier, Dawn Russell, Bob Stoll, and Robbin Trindell. LITERATURE CITED Witherington, B. E. 1994. Flotsam, jetsam, post-hatchling loggerheads, and the advecting surface smorgasbord. In: Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. Bjorndal. K. A., A. B. Bolten, D. A. Johnson, and P. J. Eliazar, (Comps.) NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFSSEFSC-351, 166. Oral presentations / Developmental Habitats and Habits 35

Sargassum Community Endemics Hydroids 21.7 Copepods 0.1 Spirorbis 2.1 Membranipora 8.5 Fishes, Crabs, Shrimp 1.4
Flying Insects Pelagic Animals Other Material 0.7 0.0 5.7

26.3 5.3 0.4 2.1 0.5 1.0 18.1 25.8

Identifications at 3479 intercept points were recorded for outside samples and identifications at 1006 intercept points were recorded for inside samples. Plant material was more frequent in outside samples (60.3%) than it was in the inside samples (22.5%) and animal material was more frequent in the inside samples (70.9%) than in the outside samples (35.5%). Much of the remaining material was anthropogenic in origin (plastics and tar; 4.1% in outside samples and 5.1% in inside samples). Most of the material collected in the outside and inside samples could be placed into five principal categories (Table 1). Plants included sea grasses (mostly Syringodium), Sargassum (mostly Sargassum fluitans), and algae other than Sargassum (principally the blue green alga, Rivularia). A second category included animals endemic to the Sargassum community such as hydroids (principally thecate hydroids), copepods (principally harpacticoid), Sprorbis (a tube polychaete), Membranipora (a bryozoan), fishes, crabs (prin-