Grant: 21-005R
Project Title: Turtle/Vessel Interactions: Observing Flight Initiation Distances of Florida Chelonia mydas in the Crystal Bay Area
Project Manager: Raymond Carthy
Organization: University of Florida - Dept of Wildlife & Conservation (Research and Educational Institute)
Grant Amount: $9,565.50
Completion Date: 2023-01-17

Summary: Vessel strikes have become a more significant threat as an increasing number of sea turtles around the world, and especially in Florida, are stranded (injured or killed) due to an increase in the number of strikes by recreational or commercial vessels over the past several decades. For effective management strategies to be established, threats to sea turtles must be thoroughly understood. Observing how green turtles (Chelonia mydas) react to oncoming vessels at varying speeds will allow for critical information surrounding these interactions to be recorded. We will conduct observational boat surveys to measure turtle response and flight initiation distance from the vessel and compare behaviors of turtles of different size classes. This research looks to improve the available information on a relevant threat for sea turtles not only in Florida, but globally, and will be useful for management organizations to help reduce vessel related mortality.

Results: The project has been completed and all field data has been collected and analyzed. We established a working relationship with two charter fishing captains out of Homosassa who have given us a discounted day rate, allowing us to conduct many more field trips than anticipated (9 expected vs. 14 conducted) and increased our ability to collect field data through the summer and fall of 2022 thanks to our six-month extension granted by STC. We ended the field season with sufficient data collected to conduct our analyses; 76 transects run and 95 sea turtle sightings observed. Our field days consisted of one to two hours of transit to the field site from the University of Florida to Homosassa, five to six hours of boat time committed to field transects and environmental data collection, and one to two hours for the return trip. All necessary equipment and gear had been purchased prior to the first field trip in late July 2021. No unforeseen, additional costs or purchases occurred, and our budget has been updated with STC since discounted rates/items have been secured. The project was a success and valuable information was collected and analyzed describing the relationship between oncoming vessels and sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) behavior.