Information concerning the distribution and abundance of marine turtles in coastal southwest Florida is limited to nesting surveys and strandings. Consequently, the current status of juvenile sea turtles in west Florida coastal waters is relatively unknown, particularly the status of the highly endangered Kemp's ridley turtle. The population status and the characterization of developmental and foraging habitats of immature sea turtles have been identified as high priority in the various sea turtle recovery plans. The purpose of this project is to determine relative abundance, temporal and spatial distributions, movements, habitat requirements, feeding habits, and sex ratios of immature sea turtles in the nearshore waters of West Florida. Research efforts focus on the highly endangered Kemp's ridley turtle, but other turtle species are opportunistically collected during routine sampling operations.

Methodology Mark-recapture techniques are used to determine the distribution, relative abundance, seasonal occurrence, movements, and size composition of marine turtles in southwest Florida. Surveys have confirmed the presence of Kemp's ridley, loggerhead, green, and hawksbill turtles in coastal waters of West Florida. In-water sampling is conducted monthly in Gullivan Bay during which a run-around strike net is deployed to capture observed turtles. The turtles are measured, weighed, fitted with an inconel flipper tag, and photographed prior to release. Internal passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are also applied to Kemp's ridley turtles for long-term monitoring and growth studies. Kemp's ridley turtles are being held to collect fecal samples for prey species identification and blood samples are taken for sex identification. Tissue and blood samples are taken from green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles for mtDNA analysis to determine nesting beach origins and sexual identification. Satellite transmitters have been placed on 6 Kemp's ridley turtles at Cedar Key to determine long-term seasonal movements.

Preliminary Results Preliminary tagging results have shown that some individuals have been recaptured between seasons and apparently reside in the Gullivan Bay area throughout the year. No tagged animals have been recaptured outside the study area. Food studies have revealed a wide variety of prey items in their diet, but it appears that benthic crustaceans and tunicates constitute the major food categories. The female to male sex ratio for the 2000 sampling season was 3:1.

Results from the satellite transmitters have indicated that the turtles moved south from the Cedar key area during periods of cold water temperature and then moved back north as water temperatures warmed between seasonal weather fronts.

Proposed Research (Southwest Florida): It is anticipated that future research (in association with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida) will include radio and/or sonic tracking of immature Kemp's ridley and loggerhead turtles in the Gullivan Bay area. We also plan to deploy time/depth recorders (TDRs) on postnesting loggerhead turtles to determine internesting diving behavior.