Lake Worth Lagoon

General Information

Project Type(s):sighting, capture

Site Name:Lake Worth Lagoon

Site Reference Number:20

Region(s):Southeast

Counties:Palm Beach

Approximate Latitude: 26.7 Approximate Longitude: -80.05

View ArcGIS map of study area

Principal Investigator(s):Bagley, Dean; Bresette, Michael; Gorham, Jonathan; Herren, Richard; Witherington, Blair E

Point(s) of Contact:Bresette, Michael - Phone Number: (772) 467-7726, Email: mbresette@inwater.org

Organizations Involved:Inwater Research Group, Inc.

Organization Type(s):non-profit

Project Status: Active

Start Date: 3/2005

End Date: n/a

Equipment and Methods

General Method(s) Used:boat survey, set net

Sampling and Effort

	Visual	Capture
Sampling regime:	annually	annually
Measure of effort:		cap/area

Bottom Type(s):sand, seagrass

Water Type Zone: neritic Water Type Environment: estuarine

Min. Depth (m): 0 Max. Depth (m): 0.1

Mean Depth (m): 0.1

Captures and Sightings Information

Species	No. of Captures	No. of Sightings	Min Size* (cm)	Max Size* (cm)	Mean Size* (cm)	FP Observed	Life Stages**
Green Turtle (Cm)	67	347	27.5	62.3	42.3	No	n/r
Loggerhead (Cc)	1	5	72.0	0.0	72.0	No	n/r
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Hawksbill (Ei)	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a
Leatherback (Dc)	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a

*All size measurements are SSCL unless otherwise indicated
** For Cm, Cc, Lk, & Ei: O - Oceanic-stage juvenile; N - Neritic-stage juvenile; S - Subadult; A - Adult. For Dc: I - Immature; A - Adult. n/a = not applicable; n/r = not reported.

This report adheres to the following size ranges for life stage classification for these species:

	Green turtle	Loggerhead	Kemp's ridley	Hawksbill
Oceanic-stage juvenile	< 25 cm SCL	< 30 cm SCL	< 25 cm SCL	< 25 cm SCL
Neritic-stage juvenile	25-69 cm SCL	30-69 cm SCL	25-39 cm SCL	25-64 cm SCL
Subadult	70-84 cm SCL	70-79 cm SCL	40-59 cm SCL	65-74 cm SCL
Adult	≥ 85 cm SCL	≥ 80 cm SCL	≥ 60 cm SCL	≥ 75 cm SCL

	Leatherback
Immature	< 135 cm OCL
Adult	≥ 135 cm OCL

Other Information Collected

diet

Project Summary

This project was established to assess the extent to which sea turtles use Lake Worth Lagoon. The study was required under a management plan for the lagoon developed by the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management in 1998 and seeks to obtain baseline data on species abundance, size distributions, CPUE at different sites, prevalence of FP, and habitat preference within the lagoon. Initial visual transects in March 2005 began to identify turtle “hotspots” where netting efforts would be most productive. An area around Little Munyon Island just north of Lake Worth Inlet has proven to be important green turtle habitat and is where a majority of netting occurs now. CPUE numbers in this area are comparable to those found in Jenning’s Cove. The observations of loggerheads indicate that Lake Worth Lagoon may be developmental habitat for that species. Approximately two thirds of captured green turtles have exhibited FP, which is a higher rate than that found in other eutrophic, degraded, low-flow environments around the state. Two of the 31 turtles captured so far have been victims of boat strikes, which is a proportion similar to those seen in IRG’s other studies (4.4% of captures with boat-related injuries in Jenning’s Cove, 8.6% in Key West National Wildlife Refuge).

Documents

No documents uploaded.

Literature/Reports Produced

Inwater Research Group. 2005. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 16 pp.

Inwater Research Group. 2005. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. Report submitted to Conservation and Education Division National Marine Fisheries Service, 14 pp

Inwater Research Group. March 2005. Preliminary population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 11 pp.

Inwater Research Group. September 2005. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 3. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 19 pp.

Inwater Research Group. January 2006. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 4. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 27 pp.

Inwater Research Group. March 2006. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 5, final report. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 28 pp.

Inwater Research Group. June 2006. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 6. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 24 pp.

Inwater Research Group. September 2006. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 7. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 26 pp.

Inwater Research Group. December 2006. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 8. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 26 pp.

Inwater Research Group. 2006. Research program summary report, Lake Worth Lagoon project. Report submitted to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1 pp.

Inwater Research Group. January 2007. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 9. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 27 pp.

Inwater Research Group. April 2007. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 10. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 30 pp.

Inwater Research Group. June 2008. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 11. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 30 pp.

Inwater Research Group. October 2008. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, sampling event 12. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 24 pp.

Inwater Research Group. August 2009. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Task #5. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 38 pp.

Inwater Research Group. February 2010. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Task #6. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 38 pp.

Inwater Research Group. April 2010. Population assessment of marine turtles in Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Task #7. Report submitted to Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, 46 pp.