Sea Turtle Injuries on Bald Head Island and their Effects on Fecundity
1. Sea
Turtle
Injuries
on
Bald
Head
Island
and
their
Effects
on
Fecundity
Joseph
A
Seebode
Bald
Head
Island
Conservancy
College
of
the
Holy
Cross
2. Sea
Turtles
• Seven
Species
Worldwide
– Found
in
tropics,
subtropics,
and
temperate
oceans
of
the
world
• DisFnguishing
Features
– Hard
shell
made
of
bone
• Carapace
+
Plastron
– Air
Breathing
– Lay
eggs
on
land
– Cold-‐blooded
• Importance
of
protecFng
sea
turtles
3. Sea
Turtles
NesFng
on
BHI
• Five
species
of
sea
turtles
offshore
– Only
three
species
known
to
nest
during
summer
months
•
Loggerheads
typically
lay
between
100-‐120
eggs
in
a
clutch
– Two
to
three
clutches
in
a
nesFng
season
– Reach
maturity
around
age
25
– Do
not
nest
every
year;
nest
every
2-‐4
years
4. IntroducFon-‐
Sea
Turtle
Injuries
• Injuries
decrease
an
animal’s
fitness,
or
ability
to
survive
• Sea
turtles
someFmes
strand
on
beaches
when
they
are
sick
or
injured
• Injuries
may
kill
or
seriously
affect
the
health
of
a
sea
turtle
– University
of
Florida
Study
• Hypothesis
1:
There
has
been
a
change
in
the
number
of
sea
turtles
that
are
injured
each
year
• Hypothesis
2:
Sea
turtles
with
injuries
will
have
less
ability
to
acquire
food
and
thus
less
energy
to
reproduce
and
produce
eggs
5. Methods
• Selected
years
1993
to
2013
to
look
at
BHI
nesFng
data;
1998
to
2013
for
North
Carolina
stranding
data
from
seaturtle.org
• Recording
injury
descripFons
from
sea
turtle
data
binders
from
the
BHIC
– Classifying
sea
turtles
as
having
none,
minor,
or
a
major
injury
• Determining
individual
sea
turtles
by
matching
PIT
and
Flipper
Tags
• Comparing
the
number
of
eggs
laid
by
sea
turtles
with
no
injuries,
minor
injuries,
and
major
injuries
as
a
measure
of
fecundity
6. Types
of
Injuries
• Causes
of
sea
turtle
injuries:
boat
propeller
strikes,
entanglement
in
marine
debris,
and
natural
predaFon
(such
as
sharks)
• Major-‐
missing
a
flipper
or
parFal
flipper,
large
breaks
in
the
carapace,
or
damage
to
the
skull
• Minor
–
small
piece
missing
from
carapace
or
flipper,
small
gash
7. Results:
Injured
NesFng
Sea
Turtles
on
BHI
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Number
of
Nes+ng
Sea
Turtles
Year
Injured
vs.
Non-‐injured
Nes+ng
Sea
Turtles
on
Bald
Head
Island
Non-‐injured
Injured
8. BHI
NesFng
Sea
Turtles
with
Major
Injuries
0
1
2
3
4
5
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Number
of
Sea
Turtles
w/
Major
Injuries
Year
Number
of
Nes+ng
Sea
Turtles
with
Major
Injuries
on
BHI
9. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Number
of
Strandings
due
Anthropogenic-‐Caused
Injuries
Year
North
Carolina
Sea
Turtle
Strandings
due
to
WatercraF
Strikes
10. Effects
on
Fecundity
• Average
Number
of
Eggs
Laid
– No
Injuries:117.18
• 946
nests
– Minor
Injuries:
123.23
• 162
nests
– Major
Injuries
:
107.15
• 33
nests
• Minor
injuries
significantly
different
from
no
injuries
and
major
injuries;
however
major
injuries
not
significantly
different
from
no
injuries
11. Discussion
• Number
of
injuries
per
year
does
not
change
much,
but
sFll
important
to
find
ways
to
decrease
injuries
– 400,846
registered
boats
in
NC
in
2010
– Jet
Propulsion
boats
found
to
be
safer
for
sea
turtles
• #
of
eggs
laid
are
within
or
close
to
the
overall
average
for
Loggerhead
sea
turtles:
100-‐120,
even
though
some
significantly
differ
from
one
another
– Only
33
sea
turtles
with
major
injuries
found
injuries
12. Experimental
Error
• Some
nesFng
data
could
not
be
used:
– Sea
turtle
not
observed
– Nest
lost
and
egg
data
not
available
• Injuries
on
plastron
not
able
to
be
observed
• Difference
in
records
year
to
year
• RelocaFon
egg
count
and
excavaFon
egg
count
may
differ
13. Injury
Recovery
&
Further
Research
• Importance
of
Sea
Turtle
Hospitals
• Natural
Healing
• Further
research
required
to
more
fully
understand
the
relaFonship
between
an
injury
and
fecundity
• Study
using
more
sea
turtles
with
major
injuries
+
comparing
sea
turtle
fecundity
before
and
aher
an
injury
occurred
• More
safety
precauFons
should
be
put
in
place
to
prevent
anthropogenic
injuries
+
sea
turtle
rescue
and
rehabilitaFon
centers
should
receive
more
funding