Sea Turtle Conservation Program, 1985 Report III

Abstract

This report describes the activities of the 1983 Mote Marine Laboratory (MML) Sea Turtle Program. The Program had 2 objectives: 1) to conduct a loggerhead turtle survey of the local beaches and 2) to tag adult female turtles on Casey Key, Florida. The survey area included south Longboat Key to the Venice beaches and now includes Manasota Key, Florida. The nesting survey included the following procedures: 1) MML volunteers located exploratory crawls and nests during daily morning walks 2) endangered nests were relocated to safer areas (hatcheries) on the beach. The criteria for nest removal were an area of high public use, tractor cleaning of beaches and/or nests layed too close to the mean high tide line 3) coastal residents were educated about the sea turtles and their beach environment through lectures and articles in the local newspapers and 4) there were continued studies of the growth rates of loggerhead turtles in captivity at Mote Marine Science center.