Apalachee Bay (Rudloe et al.)

Project Type(s):capture

Site Name:Apalachee Bay (Rudloe et al.)

Site Reference Number:3

Region(s):Northwest

Counties:Franklin, Wakulla

Approximate Latitude: 29.73 Approximate Longitude: -84.7

Principal Investigator(s):Ogren, Larry; Rudloe, Anne; Rudloe, Jack

Point(s) of Contact:Rudloe, Jack - Phone Number: (850) 984-5297, Email: gspecimen@sprintmail.com or jrudloe@earthlink.net

Organizations Involved:Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service - Miami

Organization Type(s):non-profit, federal agency

Project Status: Active

Start Date: 6/1984

End Date: n/a

General Method(s) Used:gill net, rod & reel, seine net, trawl

	Visual	Capture
Sampling regime:	n/a	annually
Measure of effort:	none	cap/area

Bottom Type(s):mud, sand, seagrass

Water Type Zone: neritic-pelagic Water Type Environment: estuarine-marine

Min. Depth (m): 0 Max. Depth (m): 20.5

Mean Depth (m): 6.7

Species	No. of Captures	No. of Sightings	Min Size* (cm)	Max Size* (cm)	Mean Size* (cm)	FP Observed	Life Stages**	Comments
Green Turtle (Cm)	4	n/a	26.9	98.0	0.0	No	N, S, A
Loggerhead (Cc)	7	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	No	n/r
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	195	n/a	20.3	57.9	36.7	No	O, N, S
Hawksbill (Ei)	1	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	No	n/r
Leatherback (Dc)	0	n/a	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.

Fishermen in the area bring in turtles that have been taken incidentally during shrimptrawling, gill-netting, and seine-fishing for other species. Information is obtained regarding locality, depth, bottom type, and gear use at the time of capture. Turtles are released into nearby Dickerson Bay after processing and within a period of no longer than seven days in rehabilitation. Turtles have been collected from 17 locations over a 60-mile stretch of coast. Those caught during the winter are significantly larger than those taken during the summer months. The peak number of individuals is collected in December and May, which coincide with the peaks in local shrimping efforts. Researchers conducted monthly trawl-sampling for turtles from June 1990 through May 1991 for 12 hours per month with a 40-ft trawl at Alligator Point, Franklin County, FL. Eight sites were sampled; one site in Levy Bay and one in Dickerson Bay became primary net-sampling locations. Thirty-two Kemp’s ridleys and one green turtle were captured during the course of the study. The researchers also recaptured five headstarted Kemp’s ridleys from Texas, enabling them to determine site fidelity, rates of travel between recapture locations, and growth rates for these turtles. The number of captures does not necessarily reflect relative species abundances because researchers did not request that fishermen bring in representative proportions of each species.

No documents uploaded.

Rudloe, A., J. Rudloe, and L.H. Ogren. 1991. Occurrence of immature Kemp's ridley turtles, Lepidochelys kempi, in coastal waters of northwest Florida. Northeast Gulf Science 1:49-53.

Rudloe, A., & J. Rudloe. 1992. Characterization of an inshore population of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. In: Richardson, J.I., and T.H. Richardson (comps.). Proc. 12th ISTS. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SEFSC-361, pp. 103-107.