Relative Abundance and

Distribution of Marine Turtles

Inhabiting Mosquito Lagoon,
Florida, USA.

Jane Provancha, Russell Lowers, Doug Scheidt,

Mario Mota, Michael Corsello
DYN-2, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
 OBJECTIVES
1. To determine :
• Current population structure
• CPUE
• Distribution relative to baseline
data (1977-1979).

2. Establish current regional importance

value.
 • Large mesh tangle nets (2)
250 yd., 12 ft. deep with
METHODS no.18 nylon twine & mesh
size of 9 inches

• Extensive bullet and buoy

system on topline

• Included minimum of 3/6

zones described by
Mendonca and Ehrhart
(1982)

• Seasonal basis :3-5 days

each period... seasons = 3
month intervals (i.e. Winter
= Dec.-Feb.).
 STUDY AREA

Kennedy Space Center

T1 General locations of
sea turtle netting zones
1

2
3

4
5

6
 Processing
• Watered & shaded to avoid heat
stress
• Standard morphometrics, evaluation
of condition, photography
• Lavage (thru 1995, green turtles
only).
• Incanel & rototags
• Trovan (PIT tags) dorsal RF flipper
(region of radius).
 Processing
• Blood sampling, 10cc : sex
determination (RIA, Owens), &
basic chemistry (NMFS).
• Centrifuged heparinized tubes
on-board within 2 hours of
collection & iced until storage at
(-80 oC).
 CPUE: Catch Per Unit
Effort

C / (L x T )
C= # of captures
L= net length
T= time net soak
 RESULTS
• Effort
• CPUE: Spatial, Temporal (short , long-term)
• Species Composition
• Sex ratio
• Fibropapilloma
• Incidental Captures
 RESULTS

1994-96: N= 34 turtles
80 km net hrs

[
1977-78: N= 95 turtles
453 net km hrs ]
0.3 CPUE per ZONE
1994-1996
0.6

0.0
0.6

0.1
0.3

0.0
 MEAN & STD for CPUES for each Zone
during the 1990’s study.
2.0

1.5
CPUE STAT

1.0

0.5

0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 T1
-0.5
ZONE
 0.70 1990’s
CPUEs
0.60
WIN vs
SPG
0.50 19%
23%
Effort
0.40
CPUE

FALL
0.30 30% SUM
28%
0.20 km net hr
Caretta
0.10 Chelonia

0.00
SPG SUM FALL WIN
SEASON
Species Composition (%)

SPECIES 1970’S 1990’S

Chelonia 21 85
Caretta 78 22
 0.8
90CM
0.6 90CC
0.4
0.2
CPUE

0.8 1 2 3 4 5 6 T1 Tot
ZONE & TOTAL 70cc
0.6 70cm
0.4
0.2
0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 T1 Tot
ZONE & TOTAL
 CPUE for all turtles captured
in the 1990s vs 1970s
0.8
90's
70's
0.6
CPUE

0.4

0.2

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
ZONE
 Comparison of CPUEs for Chelonia & Caretta
for 1990's & 1970's
0.8
90CMCPUE 70cmcpue
0.7 90CCCPUE 70cccpue
0.6
0.5
CPUE

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
ZONE
 CPUE for sea turtles in the 1970's vs the 1990s:
90's
70-pub - (Mendonca & Ehrhart,1982), 70s pub
70-mtm - adjusted for diurnal net sets 70's mtm

0.8
Turtles / net km hour

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
Netting Zone
Limulus polyphemus ?
 Sex
Females accounted for
94.4 % Chelonia and
66.6 % Caretta.

(n= 18, 3)
 SIZE (MEAN)

Species N SCL(cm) Weight (kg)

Chelonia 30 52.4 24.4
Caretta 5 81.2 48.5
 Fibropapilloma
Over 50 % incidence in 1990’s,
none reported in the 1970’s

Total
TIME CM w Paps % w Paps

1995 11 6 55%
1996 16 10 63%
Overall 27 16 59%
 Fibropapilloma Turtles
Mean # Paps by
Pap Size Class

Class 1 < 1 cm 21.4

Class 2 1- 4 cm 10.5
Class 3 4 -10 cm 0.93
Class 4 > 10 cm 0.06

Pap = tumor
Long Distance
Captures
Charleston, S.C

Las Tunas, Cuba

Incidental Captures

Dasyatis say 111

Limulus polyphemus 37
Gymnura micrura 4
Callinectes sapidus 5
Scianops ocellatus 8
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All field activities and funding was consistently
supported by the NASA Kennedy Space Center
Ecological Program, under NMFS permit #942 FL.
L.M. Ehrhart M. T. Mendonca
M. Hensley E. Stolen
W. Redfoot J. Stiner
B. Schroeder D. Owens
C. Shadrix T. Provancha
L. Ernest M. Provancha
M. Keller R. Reddick
R. Smith T. Richardson
Canaveral National Seashore
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge