Grant: 22-008R
Project Title: Body Condition, Blood Analytes and Diet of Juvenile Green Turtles in Florida's Big Bend
Project Manager: Richard Herren
Organization: Sea Turtle Conservancy (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $14,313.00
Completion Date: 2025-10-06
Summary: The Big Bend is a large area in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico that has a relatively low amount of coastal development and large wildlife refuges. However, there are already signs that this relatively pristine environment may be changing. Seagrass and oyster reefs have been steadily declining in the Big Bend and plans to build a freeway through the region will only increase development pressure. There is a growing need for comprehensive health checks and physiological studies on wild caught sea turtles to establish baseline values and determine their resilience in the face of deteriorating marine environments. Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), in collaboration with the University of Florida's USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, has been conducting surveys and capturing sea turtles in the Big Bend since 2018 and has encountered multiple hotspots containing juvenile and sub-adult green turtles. This project will collect baseline sea turtle health and diet data that will be become valuable for future spatial and temporal comparisons. Baseline blood chemistry data are also extremely useful as a reference in the medical management of sea turtles under veterinary care. The health and diet results will be used to compare with the health and diet of juvenile green turtles at other developmental sites in and around Florida, as well as at sites known to have turtles with genetic ties to Florida's nesting beaches, such as Bermuda and others throughout the Caribbean. We expect the results will help wildlife managers make informed decisions and help STC educate visitors and residents about the importance of the Big Bend to sea turtles.
Results: The goal of this study was to collect baseline data on body condition, blood analytes, and diet of juvenile green sea turtles in Florida's Big Bend region. These baseline measurements can be compared with the health of turtles in other developing areas and in rehabilitation facilities. Currently, no baseline health parameters have been established for green turtles in the area, as existing studies suffer from small sample sizes or lack key data points. To fill in these critical knowledge gaps, we ran health assessments on 55 captured juvenile green sea turtles from November 2022 through February 2025 in the Crystal River, Hudson, Keaton Beach, and Weeki Wachee areas. We collected data and samples from these green turtles to perform a whole blood analysis and to determine body condition, presence of external disease, and diet. We were able to obtain all blood health measurements and samples for a majority of green turtles. Furthermore, all turtles were classified as having a "good" or "robust" body condition, based on their physical appearance. It is important to collect and establish baseline health measurements for green sea turtles, especially as increasing coastal development will likely impact the health of sea turtles and their habitats.