Port Canaveral Ship Channel (Carr et al).

Project Type(s):capture

Site Name:Port Canaveral Ship Channel (Carr et al).

Site Reference Number:30

Region(s):Southeast

Counties:Brevard

Approximate Latitude: 28.41 Approximate Longitude: -80.55

Principal Investigator(s):Carr, Archie; McVea, Charles; Ogren, Larry

Point(s) of Contact:Ogren, Larry - Phone Number: Not Provided, Email: lhogren@aol.com

Organizations Involved:National Marine Fisheries Service - Pascagoula, National Marine Fisheries Service - Panama City, University of Florida

Organization Type(s):federal agency, federal agency, university

Project Status: Inactive

Start Date: 2/1978

End Date: 3/1978

General Method(s) Used:trawl

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

Bottom Type(s):channel

Water Type Zone: neritic Water Type Environment: marine

Min. Depth (m): 1.4 Max. Depth (m): 11.2

Mean Depth (m): 9.8

Species	No. of Captures	No. of Sightings	Min Size* (cm)	Max Size* (cm)	Mean Size* (cm)	FP Observed	Life Stages**	Comments
Green Turtle (Cm)	0	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a
Loggerhead (Cc)	241	n/a	57.5	98.0	69.1	No	n/r
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	3	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	No	n/r
Hawksbill (Ei)	0	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a
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.

torpor

Loggerheads were incidentally captured at high rates in trawlers. Fifty-six loggerheads were caught in a 123-minute trawl, and 100 were caught in a 128-minute trawl. This is the highest concentration ever reported for any species of a sea turtle in a nonbreeding habitat. Eighty-five percent of the captures were subadults. Thermal data suggested that torpid turtles had been dragged out of the bottom and walls of the channel and were likely hibernating. The implication is that loggerheads may sometimes hibernate in temperate sections of their range, just as some freshwater turtles do. Turtles were embedded in mud, which would have been the result of voluntary behavior prior to becoming torpid. Turtle body temperature was documented at 2-3° C higher than the water temperature of 14° C. The temperature 25 cm into the mud bottom was the same as that of the turtles captured. This implies that the turtles would not need to use thermoregulation and could rely on the surrounding mud to maintain a viable temperature.

File Name	Type	Description
Carr_et_al_1980.pdf	Journal Article

* This document is available from FWC by request. Email SeaTurtleData@MyFWC.com if you would like a copy. Please include both the project name and file name in your email.
** This document has been provided to FWC but is unavailable for download. Please contact the project PI if you would like a copy.

Carr, A., L. Ogren, and C. McVea. 1980. Apparent hibernation by the Atlantic loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta off Cape Canaveral, Florida. Biological Conservation 19:7-14.

Ogren, L., and C. McVea, Jr. 1981. Apparent hibernation by sea turtles in North American waters. In: Bjorndal, K.A. (ed.). Biol and conservation of sea turtles. Proc. World Conf. on Sea Turtle Conservation. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Wash., DC, pp. 127-132.