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risk of hatchling loss to nearshore predators at a high-density loggerhead nesting beach in southeast Florida

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Date Issued:
2001
Summary:
It has been recognized that mortality is high for juvenile stages of long-lived vertebrates such as sea turtles, however few studies have quantified mortality rates. The objective of this study was to assess the relative risk that hatchlings face in their first few minutes in the water, at the commencement of their offshore migration from a natural high-density nesting beach (Juno/Jupiter, FL). I followed 217 hatchlings at night by kayak, as they left the beach and documented the proportion surviving the initial 15 minutes in the water. Of these, 206 survived for an empirical survival rate of 95%. Tarpon were the most common predator observed. This survival rate is much higher than that previously observed at a hatchery (72%); this may be due to temporal and spatial variation in nest location at the natural beach. Juno and Jupiter beaches are therefore highly productive sea turtle rookeries.
Title: The risk of hatchling loss to nearshore predators at a high-density loggerhead nesting beach in southeast Florida.
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Name(s): Stewart, Kelly Rhoda.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Wyneken, Jeanette, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2001
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 50 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: It has been recognized that mortality is high for juvenile stages of long-lived vertebrates such as sea turtles, however few studies have quantified mortality rates. The objective of this study was to assess the relative risk that hatchlings face in their first few minutes in the water, at the commencement of their offshore migration from a natural high-density nesting beach (Juno/Jupiter, FL). I followed 217 hatchlings at night by kayak, as they left the beach and documented the proportion surviving the initial 15 minutes in the water. Of these, 206 survived for an empirical survival rate of 95%. Tarpon were the most common predator observed. This survival rate is much higher than that previously observed at a hatchery (72%); this may be due to temporal and spatial variation in nest location at the natural beach. Juno and Jupiter beaches are therefore highly productive sea turtle rookeries.
Identifier: 9780493276397 (isbn), 12822 (digitool), FADT12822 (IID), fau:9697 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2001.
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Subject(s): Loggerhead turtle--Florida
Sea turtles--Mortality
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12822
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.