Venice beach nourishment project marine turtle monitoring. Phase II: year 1 post project 1997.

Abstract

This report describes activities of a project involving the monitoring of marine turtle activity during and after a City of Venice restoration construction project on Venice beach which occurred in 1993. Phase I sea turtle monitoring occurred during the summer and fall of 1994, and two years post-construction 1995 and 1996. The monitoring described in this project occurred during Phase II, post construction project, 1997-1998. Because beach restoration can result in changes that may affect the nesting activity of adult turtles and the hatch and subsequent emergence success of the nests, special conditions were included in the restoration permit. The special permit conditions for evaluating the effectiveness of the restored beach in conjunction with marine turtle nest/hatch activities are summarized. This report documents the results of marine turtle protection measures, nesting activity, nest success and a sample of sand compactness monitoring at nest locations in Venice Beach 1997 and 1998.