Cape Canaveral & Northeast Coast

Project Type(s):capture

Site Name:Cape Canaveral & Northeast Coast

Site Reference Number:36

Region(s):Southeast, Northeast, Northeast, Northeast, Northeast

Counties:Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns, Volusia

Approximate Latitude: 29.22 Approximate Longitude: -80.82

Principal Investigator(s):Schmid, Jeffrey

Point(s) of Contact:Schmid, Jeffrey - Phone Number: (239) 403-4225, Email: jeffs@conservancy.org

Organizations Involved:National Marine Fisheries Service - Miami

Organization Type(s):federal agency

Project Status: Inactive

Start Date: 5/1986

End Date: 12/1991

General Method(s) Used:trawl

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

Bottom Type(s):channel, hardbottom, pelagic

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

Min. Depth (m): 0 Max. Depth (m): 26.6

Mean Depth (m): 17.8

Species	No. of Captures	No. of Sightings	Min Size* (cm)	Max Size* (cm)	Mean Size* (cm)	FP Observed	Life Stages**	Comments
Green Turtle (Cm)	41	n/a	24.0	55.4	36.0	No	n/r
Loggerhead (Cc)	774	n/a	38.2	110.0	67.7	No	n/r
Kemp's Ridley (Lk)	113	n/a	21.5	60.3	37.0	No	n/r
Hawksbill (Ei)	0	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a
Leatherback (Dc)	1	n/a	0.0	0.0	0.0	No	n/r

*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.

growth rates

residency

Size classes of loggerheads present at the study site varied seasonally. Researchers found a decrease in captures of subadults from April to July, whereas adult abundance increased. Loggerheads were present year round, although the total monthly captures were highest during November, December, and January. Eighty percent of total loggerhead captures were subadults; 20% were adults. More Kemp’s ridleys were captured in the winter months and, with one exception, were small to mid-size subadults. Green turtles were captured from November to January, all juveniles (< 40 cm SSCL). The majority of the study’s trawling effort occurred between May and December, which corresponds to the shrimping season. CPUE for loggerheads ranged from 0.02 turtles/net hour to 1.09 turtles/net hour. The maximum CPUEs for Kemp’s ridleys and green turtles were 0.25 and 0.05 turtles/net hour, respectively. These values are likely representative of turtles taken during overall commercial fishing efforts off Cape Canaveral. Short-term growth rates were calculated for some turtles but were based only on recaptures made within less than one year.

File Name	Type	Description
Bjorndal_etal_2013.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.

Bjorndal, K. et al. 2013. Temporal, spatial, and body size effects on growth rates of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Northwest Atlantic. Mar. Biol. 160:2711–2721.