The Carr Companion The newsletter of the Friends of the Carr Refuge Winter 2004

The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge authorized by an act of Congress in 1989, is a twenty and one half mile stretch of beach, on the Southeast coast of Florida. This refuge hosts the largest concentration of nesting loggerhead and green sea turtles in the United States. It is the second most important nesting site in the world for loggerhead turtles. The Refuge protects animal species by preserving the coastal habitat on which they depend; and is also a place for public recreation and education. The Refuge, named for the late Dr. Archie Carr, honors his lifetime commitment to conservation and research.

Refuge Reports: In-water Marine Turtle Netting Project

The University of Central Florida Marine Turtle Research Group (UCFMTRG) has been conducting ongoing studies of juvenile green turtles both in the Indian River Lagoon and on the near-shore reefs in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 2 miles south of the Sebastian Inlet. The turtles are netted, placed in a boat where measurements, blood work and other studies are performed to determine the health status of the two populations of turtles. The number of turtles being caught has been rising dramatically over the years between 1996 and 2003. Dr. Lew Ehrhart states that "Here, in the east coast of Florida, we are seeing the beginning of the comeback of green turtles, taking into consideration both catch data and nest data".

The major concern in the health of these green turtle populations is the high numbers of turtles with fibropapilloma. This is a herpes type virus that causes tumorous growths on the soft tissues of mainly juvenile green turtles. Of the green turtles captured in the Indian River Lagoon in 2003, 58% exhibited these growths. This compares to the long term data which hovers around 50%. By comparison the percentage of turtles with fibropapilloma tumors that were netted in the open ocean in 2003 was 32%. These growths were not seen in the ocean population prior to 1997. This disease is not seen in the green turtle population in the Trident Sub Basin at the Cape Canaveral Inlet.

Beach Crossover Signs

The new sea turtle informational signs, intended for visitors entering the beach, are ready and are expected to be installed at all the entry points in the Refuge before the start of the 2004 nesting season. We would like to acknowledge the financial support received from the Caribbean Conservation Corp. and the Ocean Conservancy for their generous donations toward the purchase of the signs.

Turtle Talk: Effects of Beach Renourishment on Turtle Nesting

To combat and manage for the effects of shoreline erosion, a shoreline restoration project was conducted during the winter and spring of 2002 covering 5 kilometers of beach immediately to the north of the Refuge. The University of Central Florida Marine Turtle Research Group (UCFMTRG), under the direction of Dr. Lew Ehrhart, has been studying marine turtle reproduction on this stretch of beach since 1989 and, had entered into a contract with Brevard County government to study marine turtle reproduction intensively during the 2002 and 2003 nesting seasons, so as to make comparisons that would provide an understanding of the effects of beach restoration on marine turtle reproduction. Three factors were looked at in detail: 1) overall nest production, 2) nesting success (nest to false crawl ratios), and 3) reproductive success (hatching and emerging success).

Nest Production ‚ Loggerhead nest production in 2003 on the five kilometers of restored beach totaled 1798 nests by August 31. This was above the long term pre-nourishment average of 1794 for this section of beach. A total of 972 nests had been laid in 2002, the first nesting year following renourishment.

Nesting Success ‚ Loggerhead nesting success on this beach in 2003 was 0.54. After a lower success rate of 0.31 in 2002. The 2003 success rate reflected a return to the long term normal success rate. "We attribute this return to normal nesting success to the equilibration of the beach profile."

Reproductive Success ‚ Average loggerhead hatching success on this beach in 2003 was 67.9% for the 120 nests studied (including washouts). In 2002, the hatching success was 60.8% for 152 nests marked. "We are convinced that these relatively high hatching success rates demonstrate that good quality fill and beach construction has resulted in normal to high success rates for marine turtle egg incubation."

Disorientations ‚ A total of 179 disorientations were documented in 2003 as of August 31. This compares unfavorably to 24 in 2002 and the pre- nourishment average of approximately 2 per year. "It is difficult to infer the causes of this increase. Most disorientation events were attributed to a specific few lighting violationsääWhatever the reason for this dramatic disparity in hatchling disorientations may be, it is clear that the number of these events could be curtailed if relatively few of the major lighting violators would make the necessary adjustments to prevent lights from shinning directly onto the beach."

(Data and direct quotes provided by the UCFMTRG in their Final Report entitled "Marine Turtle Nesting Monitoring: Brevard County Shore Protection Project; South Reach 2002 and 2003 Fill Areas in 2003")

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Who to call for information:
Friends of the Carr Refuge 1-321-676-1701
Web site: http://www.nbbd.com/npr/fcr/
Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge: 1-772-562-3909 ext. 258

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