Grant: 23-015R
Project Title: Characterizing the Diet of Pier-Hooked Green Turtles
Project Manager: Cody Mott
Organization: Inwater Research Group (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $9,800.00
Completion Date:
Summary: Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are generally thought to be herbivorous as juveniles, but recent work indicates that in many situations these turtles maintain an omnivorous diet. In Florida, sea turtle stranding records indicate that some green turtles forage on fishing bait and fishing discards based on the presence of ingested tackle. While green turtles are the most common sea turtle species documented with fishing interactions in the state, no research has attempted to examine this behavior or the importance of fishing bait to their diet. The goal of this study is to characterize and quantify green turtle interactions with a fishing pier in Florida. Specifically, we will study how proximity to a fishing pier affects green turtle diet by comparing pier-hooked turtles to turtles captured on the adjacent reef, and at a control site without a nearby pier. Turtle diet preference will be assessed using esophageal lavage, blood analytes, and stable isotope analysis. This will also quantify the proportion of fishing bait ingested by turtles and determine the relative importance of animal protein in the diets of study animals. As green turtle abundance increases in coastal waters, anthropogenic threats including climate change and habitat loss will escalate competition for resources. Additional competition is expected to increase the frequency of green turtles seeking resources at fishing piers, which may lead to further hooking and entanglement injuries. This study will collect baseline data on the diet and behavior of juvenile green turtles that interact with a recreational fishing pier. It will assist conservation and pier managers aiming to minimize future interactions between recreational fishermen and this protected species. The proposed methods can be applied to additional piers and recreational fishing sites to better understand this anthropogenic threat more broadly.
Results: