Management Research Needs 



Research Recfuirements for Management of the Marine 

 Habitat (Wayne N. Witzell) 



Introduction 



Very little is known about the developmental ecology and 

 population dynamics of western Atlantic sea turtles. Delineating 

 sea turtle habitat research needs, therefore, is difficult due to 

 the lack of basic knowledge concerning habitat utilization by any 

 turtle species. Evidence suggests that the pelagic habitat is 

 contaminated with crude oil pollutants and gear discarded by 

 commercial and recreational fishing operations, dredging, and by 

 industrial and agricultural runoff (Coston-Clements and Hoss 

 1983; Balazs 1985). The temporal and spatial aspects of this 

 habitat degradation need to be identified as well as the exact 

 nature and extent of the adverse effects on each of the various 

 sea turtle populations. This paper enumerates the research 

 required that are necessary to assess the impacts of pelagic and 

 benthic habitat degradation on sea turtles in the WATS area. 



Developmental Habitat Identification 



Sea turtle researchers for many years have speculated upon 

 the exact locations of the developmental habitats for hatchling 

 and juvenile turtles. At least some small turtles passively 

 drift along various current boundaries, rips, eddies, and 

 convergence zones, often utilizing floating rafts of sargassum 

 weed as their primary developmental habitat (Caldwell 1968; 

 Witham 1974; Fletemeyer 1978; Carr and Meylan 1980a; Fritts 1981; 

 Carr 1986a; Critchley 1987) . These sargassum rafts form 

 extensive weedlines along current boundaries, frequently 

 extending for many kilometers and provide food and shelter for 

 young turtles. Therefore, efforts must first be made to predict 

 and/or locate consistently all major weedline areas before 

 habitat research needs can be effectively addressed. Recent 

 advances in remote sensing equipment and current modeling 

 techniques might prove useful in predicting and locating these 

 drifting habitats. 



When juvenile sea turtles leave the pelagic habitats, they 

 move into various estuarine and hard bottom communities. 

 Consequently, detailed surveys should be taken of all local 

 reefs, banks, lagoons, and mangrove tidal creeks to locate 

 possible developmental habitats. 



Surface Habitat 



The fact that the oceanic environment is rapidly becoming 

 polluted with oil and plastic debris is widely known. This 

 floating material drifts throughout the oceanic zone and collects 



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