Characterization of a Subtropical Hawksbill Sea Turtle

In order to provide information to better inform management decisions and direct further research, vessel-based visual transects, snorkel transects, and in-water capture techniques were used to characterize hawksbill sea turtles in the shallow marine habitats of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), the Ke...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-12, Vol.9 (12)
Main Authors: Gorham, Jonathan C, Clark, David R, Bresette, Michael J, Bagley, Dean A, Keske, Carrie L, Traxler, Steve L, Witherington, Blair E, Shamblin, Brian M, Nairn, Campbell J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Protection and preservation
Sea turtles
Testosterone
Wildlife conservation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In order to provide information to better inform management decisions and direct further research, vessel-based visual transects, snorkel transects, and in-water capture techniques were used to characterize hawksbill sea turtles in the shallow marine habitats of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), the Key West National Wildlife Refuge in the Florida Keys. Hawksbills were found in hardbottom and seagrass dominated habitats throughout the Refuge, and on man-made rubble structures in the Northwest Channel near Cottrell Key. Hawksbills captured (N = 82) were exclusively juveniles and subadults with a straight standard carapace length (SSCL) ranging from 21.4 to 69.0cm with a mean of 44.1 cm (SD = 10.8). Somatic growth rates were calculated from 15 recaptured turtles with periods at large ranging from 51 to 1188 days. Mean SSCL growth rate was 7.7 cm/year (SD = 4.6). Juvenile hawksbills (
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0114171