Surface-Pelagic Drift Community (Southeast Florida)

General Information

Project Type(s):capture, sighting

Site Name:Surface-Pelagic Drift Community (Southeast Florida)

Site Reference Number:29

Region(s):Southeast

Counties:

Approximate Latitude: 28.1 Approximate Longitude: -79.89

View ArcGIS map of study area

Principal Investigator(s):Ceriani, Simona A; Hardy, Robert F; Hirama, Tomo; Witherington, Blair E

Point(s) of Contact:Hardy, Robert F - Phone Number: (727) 896-8626, Email: robert.hardy@myfwc.com

Organizations Involved:Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission - Fish & Wildlife Research Institute

Organization Type(s):state agency

Project Status: Active

Start Date: 8/1992

End Date: n/a

Equipment and Methods

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

Sampling and Effort

	Visual	Capture
Sampling regime:	opportunistically	opportunistically
Measure of effort:	obs/distance	cap/distance

Bottom Type(s):pelagic

Water Type Zone: pelagic Water Type Environment: marine

Min. Depth (m): 2.4 Max. Depth (m): 292.4

Mean Depth (m): 60.3

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)	11	7	5.3	22.4	11.1	No	O
Loggerhead (Cc)	1321	288	3.9	7.8	4.6	No	O
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Hawksbill (Ei)	1	0	13.4	0.0	13.4	No	O
Leatherback (Dc)	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	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 study area was established earlier than the other three epipelagic drift community sites and focuses on the Florida Current off of Brevard County. Captures are almost exclusively small oceanic-stage loggerheads (young of the year). See the narrative under Epipelagic Drift Community – Northwest for more information and literature produced.

Documents

No documents uploaded.

Literature/Reports Produced

Witherington, B. 1994. Flotsam, jetsam, post-hatchling loggerheads, and the advecting surface smorgasbord. In: Bjorndal, K.A., A.B. Bolten, D.A. Johnston, and P.J. Eliazar (comps.). Proc. 14th ISTS. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-351, pp. 166-168.

Witherington, B. 1994. Some "lost-year" turtles found. In: Schroeder, B.A., and B.E. Witherington (comps.). Proc. 13th ISTS. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-341, pp. 194-196.

Witherington, B. 2000. Habits and bad habits of young loggerhead turtles in the open ocean. In: Abreu-Grobois, F.A., R. Briseno Duenas, R. Marquez, and L. Sarti (comps.). Proc. 18th ISTS. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-436, pp. 34-35.

Witherington, B.E. 2002. Ecology of neonate loggerhead turtles inhabiting lines of downwelling near a Gulf Stream front. Marine Biology 140:843-853.

Witherington, B. 2006. Threats to Neonate Sea Turtles in Atlantic Surface Waters off Florida. Final report submitted to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. May 25, 2006. 32 pp.

Witherington, B., and S. Hirama. 2006. Sea turtles of the epi-pelagic Sargassum drift community. In: Frick, M., A. Panagopoulou, A. Rees, and K. Williams (comps.). Book of abstracts. 26th ISTS. International Sea Turtle Society, Athens, Greece, pp. 209.

Witherington, B., and S. Hirama. 2006. Little loggerheads packed with pelagic plastic. In: Pilcher, N.J. (comp.). Proc. 23rd ISTS. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-536, pp. 137-138.