This summer marks the 3rd field season for Ph.D. candidate Matt Ware at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Fort Morgan, Alabama working alongside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Share the Beach, an all-volunteer sea turtle conservation group. It has been a quiet year so far – only 30 nests, when in the last 2 years there have been 94 and 86 nests, respectively. Hatching has started with hatchlings from the only Kemp’s ridley nest on the refuge emerging on Monday 16 July. During the excavation, 108 eggs were found with 87 hatchlings successfully reaching the water. The first loggerhead nest should be hatching any day now.

His research this time around focuses on 1) studying the inundation tolerance of developing sea turtle embryos, and 2) the effect of Leave No Trace ordinances on nesting success. In past years, Matt has investigated the changes in incubation conditions associated with nest relocation and mapping wave runup exposure to identify high-risk nesting locations. To better inform these management strategies and tools, more information is needed on how well developing sea turtle embryos “hold their breath”. How long can embryos remain underwater and still hatch successfully? How does this tolerance vary with the timing of inundation relative to embryonic development and the frequency of inundation? Matt is using HOBO U20L-04 water level loggers to answer these questions, including 2 loggers donated by Onset Computer Corporation. Tropical Storm Alberto arrived in the northern Gulf of Mexico very early in the nesting season, so only 2 nests were affected. The peak of hurricane season is still to come in August and September – and the loggers are ready and waiting. This project has been funded by a Section 6 grant from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The second component of his research this summer constitutes the final year of data collection on a multi-year project tracking the nesting success across Baldwin County, Alabama. In 2015, the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach enacted Leave No Trace ordinances. The “Leave Only Footprints” program as it is called forces beachgoers to remove their equipment from the beach no later than 1 hour after sunset or face civil penalties. This program does not apply to unincorporated Fort Morgan, and the 2 local protected areas – the Bon Secour NWR and Gulf State Park – already have their own versions of the Leave No Trace ordinance. By comparing nesting data before and after the enactment of the “Leave Only Footprints” program and within each year across the county, Matt will be able to assess if the program has improved nesting success, or at least decreased the frequency of obstructed crawls, in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
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Unfortunately, on Saturday 14 July, the need for such ordinances was demonstrated when a mature female Kemp’s ridley was found washed up during morning nesting patrol on the Bon Secour NWR apparently strangled by a beach chair. Matt assisted the Alabama Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network in documenting the event and collecting the animal for later necropsy at the NOAA facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Images he captured of the turtle quickly went viral on social media and various news outlets. Posts on Matt’s personal Facebook page and the pages of Fort Morgan Share the Beach and the Bon Secour NWR have been viewed over 600,000 times and shared almost 9,000 times with almost 5,000 reactions. Now this’ story on the incident has been viewed 1 million times and shared over 12,000 times. The story was covered in the:

• NBC15, USA
• New York Times, USA
• Daily Mail, UK 
• Global News, Canada
• Huffington Post, South Africa
• Australia

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 Share the Beach has reached out to the Baldwin and Mobile County commissioners along with the governor of Alabama to urge them to support an expansion of the “Leave Only Footprints” program beyond the city limits. They, and Matt, hope that the images, though graphic, will encourage beachgoers to remove equipment from the beach at the end of the day, discard of damaged equipment properly, and help combat marine debris to prevent future impacts to wildlife.

When not in the field, Matt has been working on several manuscripts detailing his previous research in Alabama. Be on the look-out for his nest relocation manuscript currently in press in Chelonian Conservation and Biology and future manuscript on wave runup mapping.

Check out our new paper on the impacts of recreational scallop fisheries on marine turtles:

The impact of fisheries on marine megafauna is widely known but most studies have focused on commercial fisheries, overlooking the effect of local recreational fisheries. This is particularly important for marine turtles in near-shore habitats that overlap with recreational fisheries. We assessed the effect of recreational scallop fisheries on the distribution and behaviour of foraging marine turtles in the coastal waters of the upper Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Before and during the scallop season we quantified the density and overlap of marine turtles and vessels sighted, and satellite tracked four turtles to assess their distribution and behaviour. The relative distribution of marine turtles sighted during the scallop season overlapped with 48% of the area most frequently used by harvesters, and marine turtle activity hotspots shifted between seasons. In addition, during the scallop season the home range size of individual turtles appeared to decrease, and turtles displayed frequent changes in travel speed and directionality. We hypothesize that such changes are probably related to the distribution and movement of vessels and the abundant presence of people in the water. Our study highlights the importance of considering recreational fisheries and their local effect on marine megafauna for informing future adaptive management practices. However, further studies are needed to quantify the direct and indirect impacts of recreational fisheries and to assess the degree of risk of associated activities to marine turtle populations.

Reference:
Wildermann, N. Sasso, C., Gredzens, C., Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2018). Assessing the effect of recreational scallop harvest on the distribution and behavior of foraging  marine turtles. Oryx

We were recently awarded three grants from the Sea Turtle Grants Program (see below). The Sea Turtle Grants Program is funded from proceeds from the sale of the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate. Learn more at www.helpingseaturtles.org


Fuentes, Mariana (PI), & Ingels, Jeroen Omer Georgette (Co-PI). (May 2018–May 2019). Life on Loggerheads: an integrated epibiosis study to assess foraging behavior, reproductive success and habitats of Northern Gulf of Mexico loggerheads nesting at St. George Island. Total award $10,571.
 
Fuentes, Mariana (PI), & Montero, Natalie Alexandra (Co-PI). (May 2018–May 2019). Assessing different sea turtle nest protection measures against coyotes.  Total award $12,413.
 
 Fuentes, Mariana (PI), & Wildermann, Natalie Elizabeth (Co-PI). (May 2018–May 2019). Integrative assessment of a loggerhead foraging aggregation in Crystal River. Total award $12,826.
 

Check out our new manuscript on microplastic at sea turtle nesting grounds:

Microplastics can impact key habitats used by endangered species, such as marine turtles. They impact the environment by transporting toxicants and altering sediment properties affecting temperature and sedimentpermeability. Our study determined the exposure of the ten most important nesting sites for the Northern Gulf of Mexico Loggerhead Recovery Unit to microplastic. Sand samples were obtained at each nesting site during the 2017 nesting season and analyzed for abundance and characteristics of microplastic. Microplastic was found at all sites, with an average abundance of 61.08 ± 34.61 pieces/m2, and 59.9% located at the dunes, where turtles primarily nest. A gradual decrease in microplastics abundance was observed from the most western nesting ground to the east. The results from this study indicate that microplastic accumulation on nesting sites for the Northern Gulf of Mexico may be of great concern, and could negatively affect the incubating environment formarine turtles.

Reference:
Beckwith, V. K. and Fuentes M. M. P. B. (2018). Microplastic at nesting   grounds used by the northern Gulf of Mexico loggerhead recovery unit. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 131, 32-37

Valencia Beckwith just received an IDEA grant to continue her studies on sea turtles and microplastic.  CONGRATULATIONS!

Sea turtle eggs are at risk of inundation and erosion throughout their incubation. Inundation reduces gas exchange necessary for proper embryonic development with prolonged exposure resulting in mortality. Management actions such as nest relocation may reduce this threat; however, they are often undertaken with incomplete information (e.g., tolerance of sea turtle embryos to inundation, and knowledge of the environmental differences between the original and final nest locations). Despite the need to understand the risk of sea turtle nest inundation, few studies measure inundation directly, and those that have, used PVC-based equipment with limited sampling resolution and measurement precision. To improve in situ inundation monitoring, we tested the use of electronic water level loggers (HOBO U20L-04) at loggerhead sea turtle nests, and compared costs, benefits, and limitations of this equipment to the PVC devices used in previous research. The HOBO loggers demonstrated >90% correlation with the PVC inundation devices in inundation frequency for both experimental sites and incubating nests. PVC devices tended to overestimate inundation duration (24.7 ± 5.0 h SE) and underestimate inundation severity (14.6% ± 6.6% SE) compared to the HOBO loggers. The greater temporal resolution and measurement precision of the HOBO logger provided higher quality data pertaining to inundation stress in the nests during inundation events over the PVC devices. Small-scale studies of inundation tolerance and other physiological responses to inundation would benefit from this improved data quality; however, the cost of each unit and associated software and hardware may be prohibitive for some monitoring programs. The PVC devices are low cost and simple to mass-produce, lending their use for large-scale monitoring efforts to better inform relocation decisions and productivity assessments.

Full citation: Ware M, and  Fuentes, M. M. P. B. (2018). A comparison of methods used to monitor groundwater inundation of sea turtle nests. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology,  503, 1-7

Interested in being a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Lab, have a look at this opportunity - Provost Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Who is Eligible?

• Individuals seeking a postdoctoral fellowship in one of the NSF-defined Fields of US Doctorates
• Not greater than 5 years since awarded their doctoral degree
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• Nomination by FSU faculty mentor

If interested please contact Dr. Fuentes directly - applications are due on the 28th February

We will be at the Southeast Regional Sea Turtle meeting, come and check our work:

14th feb -

Natalie Montero - 10:45am - EFFECTS OF LOCAL CLIMATE AND NESTING ENVIRONMENT ON CARETTA CARETTA HATCHLING OUTPUT

Kristen Sella - 1:56pm - EXPOSURE OF MARINE TURTLE NESTING GROUNDS TO COASTAL
CONSTRUCTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT

15th Feb-

Natalie Wildermann - 9:15am - ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF RECREATIONAL SCALLOP HARVEST ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND BEHAVIOR OF FORAGING MARINE TURTLES

Valencia Beckwith - 1:43pm - MICROPLASTIC POLLUTION AT NEST
ING GROUNDS FOR THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO LOGGERHEAD RECOVERY UNIT

Matthew Ware - 4:35pm - USE OF HIGH RESOLUTION GROUND WATER DATA TO ASSESS
INUNDATION STRESS ON SEA TURTLE EMBRYOS

Posters

Sam Garrison - ANTHROPOGENIC MARINE DEBRIS AT NESTING GROUNDS USED BY
THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO LOGGERHEAD RECOVERY UNIT

Alexandra Lee - IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: EXPOSURE OF SEA TURTLE NESTING TO
NAMED WEATHER SYSTEMS IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO

 Check out the new book on Florida's Climate: Changes, Variations, & Impacts

This book provides a thorough review of the current state of research on Florida's climate, including physical climate benchmarks; climate prediction, projection, and attribution; and the impacts of climate and climate change on the people and natural resources of Florida. This volume offers accessible, accurate information for students, policymakers, and the general public.

Dr. Fuentes and Natalie Montero, together with other co-authors contributed to Chapter 12 on impacts on Florida's biodiversity and ecology.

Copies can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1979091048  and more information can be found at https://floridaclimateinstitute.org/resources/florida-climate-book

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a pervasive issue that affects economic, social, regulatory and environmental systems in all ocean basins. Research on the ecological impacts of IUU fishing has been relatively underrepresented, with minimal investigation into how IUU fishing may negatively affect populations of marine megafauna, such as sea turtles. To address this knowledge gap and identify priority areas for future research and management, we evaluated IUU fishing as a threat to a marine megafauna species group (sea turtles) in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia region (IOSEA). We designed and distributed an online survey to experts in the fields of sea turtle research, marine conservation, fisheries management, consulting and NGOs throughout IOSEA. Our results reveal that IUU fishing is likely to have potentially significant impacts on sea turtle populations in IOSEA through targeted exploitation and international wildlife trafficking. Addressing domestic IUU fishing needs to be actioned as a high priority within the study area, as does the issue of patrolling maritime borders to deter illegal cross-border transhipment. There is a demonstrable need to strengthen MCS and employ regional coordination to help build capacity in less-developed nations. Future research requirements include evaluating IUU fishing as a threat to sea turtles and other threatened marine species at multiple scales, further investigation into market forces throughout IOSEA, and examination of potential barriers to implementing management solutions. We advocate for introducing sea turtle-specific measures into IUU fishing mitigation strategies to help maximize the opportunity for positive outcomes in creating healthy ecosystems and stable communities.

Full citation:
Riskas, K. A., Tobin, R., Fuentes, M. M. P. B.,  Hamann, M. (2018). Using expert opinion to evaluate the threat of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing to sea turtles: a case study in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. Biological Conservation. 217, 232-239