Port Canaveral Ship Channel (Bolten et al.)

General Information

Project Type(s):capture

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

Site Reference Number:32

Region(s):Southeast

Counties:Brevard

Approximate Latitude: 28.41 Approximate Longitude: -80.55

View ArcGIS map of study area

Principal Investigator(s):Bjorndal, Karen; Bolten, Alan; Dickerson, Dena

Point(s) of Contact:Bolten, Alan - Phone Number: (352) 392-5194, Email: abb@zoo.ufl.edu; Bjorndal, Karen - Phone Number: (352) 392-5194, Email: bjorndal@ufl.edu

Organizations Involved:University of Florida, United States Army Corps of Engineers - Vicksburg

Organization Type(s):university, federal agency

Project Status: Inactive

Start Date: 3/1992

End Date: 2/1993

Equipment and Methods

General Method(s) Used:trawl

Sampling and Effort

	Visual	Capture
Sampling regime:	annually	annually
Measure of effort:		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

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)	2	n/a	52.0	98.5	75.3	No	n/r
Loggerhead (Cc)	171	n/a	40.2	109.8	0.0	No	n/r
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	1	n/a	30.8	0.0	30.8	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.

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

blood chemistry

Project Summary

The number of loggerheads captured and the size classes observed varied seasonally. Adults principally used the channel during the spring-summer breeding season; juveniles were present year round. Differences between stations may have been related to differences in bottom type. A peak in juvenile captures in the winter was believed to represent a group of juvenile loggerheads migrating south away from cooler northern temperatures. Blood samples were collected from 168 loggerheads, and plasma samples were evaluated for 26 analytes. This was done to establish baseline values for blood chemistries to monitor the long-term physiological status of loggerhead populations.

Documents

No documents uploaded.