142 



Fishery Bulletin 93(1), 1995 



captured and tagged. Sixty tagged turtles (42 log- 

 gerhead, 15 Kemp's ridley, and 3 green) were recap- 

 tured by the contract vessel. Additionally, 31 recaptures 

 and recoveries (26 loggerhead, 4 Kemp's ridley, and 1 

 green turtle) were reported by other investigators. 



Loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta — Seven hundred 

 and seventy-four loggerhead turtle captures were 



recorded off the east coast of Florida. Loggerhead 

 turtles captured in Florida ranged from 38.2 to 110.0 

 cm SSCL (Fig. 2). Eighty percent (n=616) of the log- 

 gerhead turtles captured were subadults and 20% 

 (n-153) were adults. Loggerhead turtles were present 

 year-round in the Cape Canaveral area (Table 2). 

 Total monthly captures were highest during Novem- 

 ber, December, and January; however, yearly cap- 

 tures for these months varied substan- 

 tially. Subadult loggerhead turtles were 

 most abundant during all months, except 

 June, and showed a decrease from April 

 to July as adult abundance increases, 

 probably in response to the nesting sea- 

 son (Fig. 3). Peaks in the relative compo- 

 sition of the adult size class during April 

 and June correspond to the peak densities 

 reported by Henwood (1987a) for males 

 and females, respectively. 



Sixty-eight tagged loggerhead turtles 

 have been recaptured or recovered since 

 the implementation of this study. Fifty-two 

 (76%) of these turtles were initially tagged 

 by the contract vessel. The remaining six- 

 teen (24%) loggerhead turtle recaptures 

 were tagged by other investigators in 

 Florida and Georgia. 1.2,3,4,5,6,7 Methods of 

 capture included shrimp trawl (69%), 

 beach stranding (22%), pound net (3%), 

 power plant intake canal (3%), nesting fe- 

 male (1%), and SCUBA sighting ( 1%). The 

 amount of time between tagging and re- 

 capture ranged from 1 to 2,499 days. How- 

 ever, 70% (n=45) were recaptured within 

 a year of initial capture. 



Twenty-six loggerhead turtles (23 sub- 

 adults and 3 adults) initially captured 



1 Bolten, A. University of Florida, Archie Carr Cen- 

 ter for Sea Turtle Research, Gainesville, FL, 32611. 

 Personal commun., 1992. 



2 Foster, K. National Marine Fisheries Service, Mi- 

 ami Laboratory, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, 

 FL, 33149. Personal commun., 1994. 



3 Guseman, J. University of Central Florida, Depart- 

 ment of Biology, Orlando, FL, 32816. Personal 

 commun., 1992. 



4 Henwood, T. National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 Southeast Regional Office, 9450 Koger Boulevard, 

 St. Petersburg, FL, 33702. Personal commun., 

 1991. 



6 Martin, E. Applied Biology, Inc., P.O. Box 974, 

 Jensen Beach, FL, 34958. Personal commun., 1991. 



6 Stuntz, W. National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 Pascagoula Laboratory, P.O. Drawer 1207, 

 Pascagoula, MS, 39567. Personal commun., 1991. 



7 Teas, W. National Marine Fisheries Service, Mi- 

 ami Laboratory, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, 

 FL, 33149. Personal commun., 1991. 



