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Sea Turtle Nesting in the Ten Thousand Islands Offlorida August Sea turtle nesting in the Ten Thousand Islands of Florida Item Type monograph Authors Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Percival, H. Franklin; Rice, Kenneth G.; Portier, Kenneth M. Download date 24/09/2021 20:43:10 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/18955 Sea turtle nesting in the Ten Thousand Islands ofFlorida August 1997 Technical Report #56 Completed for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service & National Park Service Ahjond S. Garmestani, H Franklin Percival, Kenneth G. Rice and Kenneth M. Portier Citation: Garmestani, AS., HF. Percival, K.G. Rice and K.M. Portier. 1997. Sea turtle nesting in the Ten Thousand Islands ofFlorida. Fla. Coop. Fish and Wildl. Res. Unit, USGS-Biological Resources Division Tech. Rep. 56. 96 pp. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Dr. H. Franklin Percival for providing me with advice, financial support, folk euphemisms, and the opportunity to work with an individual as excellent as him. I am also very grateful to Dr. Ken Portier, Dr. Mel Sunquist and Dr. Alan Bolten for serving as committee members and for offering valuable advice throughout the course ofthis research. Special thanks are in order for SCAIAmericorps assistants Kimberley Augenfeld, Kevin LoGiudice, Victor Noerdlinger, Wayne Taylor, Fred Williams, Jill Witt, and particularly Chuck Lane and Ellen Cheng. None ofthe research I conducted would have been possible without their constant assistance in the field and the laboratory. Thanks are also in order for Maura Kraus and her staffwith the Collier County Department ofNatural Resources and Dr. Todd Hopkins and his staff at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Dr. Ray Carthy and Dr. Ken Rice provided invaluable assistance with research design and analysis. I also would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. John Davis, Tess Korhnak, Dr. Ken Clark, Dr. Henry Gholz and the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, particularly Dr. Karen Bjomdal, for the use oflab space and supplies. For their secretarial and administrative support, I am indebted to Debra Hughes and Barbara Fesler. Others who offered invaluable advice are: Dr. Clarence Abercrombie, Dave Addison, Craig Allen, Jill Blue, Dr. Mary Collins, Jason Croop, Dr. Stanley Gehrt, Brendan Godley, Dr. Tim Gross, Dr. Ed Hanlon, Sally Hopkins-Murphy, Seihun Kong, Dr. JoAnn Mossa, Tom Murphy, Larry Ogren, Dr. Mike Pelton, Dr. Scott Smith, Phil Wilkinson and John Wooding. This work would not have been possible without the funding and support ofthe Florida Panther/Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (TTINWR), Everglades National Park (ENP) and the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. In particular, Ben Nottingham, Jr. (TTINWR), Larry Richardson (TTINWR), Jim Krakowski (TTINWR), Cindy Garcia (TTINWR), Lennie Jones (TTINWR), Jim Durrwachter (TTINWR), Mike Mayer (ENP), Daryl Rhodes (ENP), Kathy Clossin (ENP), Larry Anderson (ENP), Gene Wesloh (ENP), Sid Capo (ENP), Jim Brown (ENP) and Judy Hayes (ENP) as well as the rest ofthe staffat ENP and TTINWR, and Sandy McPherson ofthe Jacksonville, Florida U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office. The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service provided air time in 1996. This work was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Cooperative Agreement # 14-16­ 0009-1544, Research Work Order No. 119) through the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (U.S Geological Survey- Biological Resources Division, the University ofFlorida, the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission and the Wildlife Management Institute cooperating). ii - -- -- - _._. __._. -- - .. ------- --- -- .-.__.__._------------,-------~--~~--"--------- ABSTRACT Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nest in numerous substrate and beach types within the Ten Thousand Islands (TTl) ofsouthwest Florida. Nesting beach selection was analyzed on 12 islands within this archipelago. Numerous physical characteristics were recorded to identify the relatedness ofthese variables and determine their importance for nesting beach selection in C. caretta. These variables were chosen after evaluating the islands, conducting literature searches and soliciting personal communications. Along transects, data were collected, on the following: height of canopy, beach width, overall slope (beach slope and slope ofoffshore approach) and sand samples analyzed for pH, percentage ofwater, percentage oforganic content, percentage ofcarbonate and particle size (8 size classes). Data on ordinal aspect ofbeaches and beach length were also recorded and included in the analysis. All ofthe variables were analyzed by tree regression, incorporating the nesting data into the analysis. In the TTl, 2 loggerheads appear to prefer wider beaches (p< 0.001; R = 0.56) that inherently have less slope, and secondarily, wider beaches that have low amounts ofcarbonate (p< O. 00 1). In addition, C. caretta favors nest sites within or in close proximity to the supra-littoral vegetation zone ofbeaches in the TTl (p< 0.001). Aerial surveys were flown over the TTl region during June and July of 1996. Twenty-nine ofthe possible 34 islands with potential nesting beaches were chosen for the study. Ground surveys were conducted on 8 islands to provide a correction factor between ground and aerial counts. All crawls counted on the ground were counted from the air. This technique resulted in estimates of906 nests and 997 false crawls in 1996 for the 29 islands. It appears that sea turtles (Caretta caretta and Chelonia rnydas) nest in relatively high numbers in an area (TTl) not previously known to support significant sea turtle nesting activity. 111 Predation by raccoons (Procyon totor) is the primary factor in nest success for sea turtles in the TTl archipelago. Eight islands within or adjacent to the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge (TTINWR) have been surveyed for sea turtle nesting activity from 1991-96. Raccoon trapping was conducted during the 1992 nesting season and in 1995-96 from January through April, removing 21, 15 and 2 raccoons, respectively. Removals in 1992 (21) resulted in continued high predation, indicative ofa high raccoon population and insufficient removals (nests= 42, 95% predation). Although fewer raccoons were removed prior to the 1995 and 1996 nesting seasons (15, 2), no nest predation occurred during either year (1995, nests= 41; 1996, nests= 62). These figures are in contrast to 76-100% nest predation for the previous four years. Eight raccoons were also trapped, tagged and released on Gullivan Key in 1995 (276 trap-nights, 3.2% trap success). The following year only 1 raccoon was trapped and removed (114 trap­ nights, 0.9% trap success) resulting in no significant decrease in nest predation (nests= 33,97% predation). The results from the TTl indicate that raccoon removal may be an effective management tool for increasing sea turtle nest success on relatively remote barrier islands, although some raccoons may become sensitized to traps ifexposed to traps prior to removal work. More work is needed to provide conclusive evidence that sufficient and cost-effective trapping and removal can be conducted on these barrier island beaches in order to increase sea turtle hatching success. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ACrnOWLEDMENTS .i ABSTRACT .iii CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 EVALUATION OF PHYSICAL PARAMETERS AS 6 INDICATORS OF NESTING BEACH SELECTION FOR THE LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE (CARETTA CARETTA) Introduction and Background 6 Homing behavior 7 Nesting beach selection 9 Nest-site selection 11 Objectives .12 Materials and Methods 13 Study Area 13 Field Sampling Techniques 13 Laboratory analysis 17 Statistical analysis 18 Results 18 Nesting beach selection 18 Nest-site selection 24 Discussion 24 Nesting beach selection 27 Nest-site selection 30 Conclusion , 32 3 EVALUATION OF AERIAL SURVEY FOR ESTIMATION 34 OF SEA TURTLE NESTING EFFORT IN THE TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS: APPLICATION OF A SURVEY TECHNIQUE Introduction and Background 34 Materials and Methods 35 v Study Areas 35 Sampling Techniques 36 Formula 37 Results 38 Discussion 41 Conclusion " 47 4 MOVEMENT PATTERNS OF THE TEN THOUSAND .48 ISLANDS RACCOON (PROCYON LOTOR MARINUS) AND THE EFFECT OF ITS REMOVAL ON SEA TURTLE HATCH SUCCESS Introduction and Background .48 Materials and Methods 50 Study Areas 50 Sampling Techniques 51 1995 Field Season 52 1996 Field Season 53 Results 55 1995 Field Season 55 1996 Field Season 60 Discussion " 64 Conclusion 65 5 RECOMMENDATIONS 68 REFERENCES 86 VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Sea turtles have been the subject ofmuch scientific and public attention due to their imperiled status and prominent role on beaches ofthe world. The direct contact with the public has heightened awareness and concern for sea turtle conservation. Understanding distribution, nesting and habitat preferences, and sources ofmortality is critical to management ofsea turtles and their habitats. The Ten Thousand Islands (TTl) extend roughly 40 kilometers from Marco Island to Pavilion Key along Florida's southwest coast (Edwards, 1991). Located approximately 25 kilometers southeast ofNaples, these largely undeveloped islands are utilized by the public year-round, primarily for fishing (Cheng, 1996). The climate is subtropical with 110 to 160 centimeters ofaverage annual precipitation, two-thirds of which occurs between May and October (Cheng, 1996). Average annual temperature is 23 degrees Celsius, with occasional freezing temperatures in the winter and regular mid­ thirties in the summer (Cheng, 1996). The mangrove ecosystem ofthe TTl supports a wide range
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