■ 



tific community 

 simply doesn't 

 know how the 

 other fisheries 

 factor into turtle 

 mortalities. 



For in- 

 stance, re- 

 searchers have 

 anecdotal evi- 

 dence that gill 

 nets — which 

 are used to 

 catch trout, 

 flounder, spot, 

 croaker, striped 

 bass and other 

 species — kill 

 turtles. But they 

 have no defini- 

 tive studies that 

 prove gill nets 

 are a significant 

 problem. 



Says 

 Epperly, "We 

 have seen fresh 



animals we knew were gill net caught, 

 and we still couldn't see any physical 

 signs on the animal that it had been in 

 the gill net or that the net had caused 

 the turtle's death." 



That lack of physical evidence is 

 one of the complicating factors of turtle 

 conservation. Whether it's death by 

 human activities or natural causes, defi- 

 nite clues are few. What is abundant, 

 however, is concern for turtles no mat- 

 ter how they perish. 



Taking Time for Turtles 



According to Boettcher, the Sea 

 Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network 

 — established in 1980 — is currently 

 the only reliable source of information 

 on turtle mortalities. For this reason, the 

 network's main goals are to determine 

 as accurately as possible the number of 

 turtles washing ashore and to identify 

 stranding hot spots and figure out why 

 turtles wash up dead in those particular 

 places. With this data, scientists can 

 make stronger conclusions about mor- 

 tality rates and population trends. 



20 MARCH/APRIL 1997 



mm 



Sea Turtle Strandings 



Year 



North Carolina 1 



Southeast 2 



Total U.S. : 



1990 



277 



1,514 



2,515 



1991 



129 



958 



1,656 



1992 



240 



1,010 



1,742 



1993 



197 



873 



1,786 



1994 



297 



1,241 



2,536 



1995 



347 



1,377 



2,824 



1996 



503 



1,836 



est. 3,000+ 



' Data from N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission 

 2 Data from the Sea Turtle Stranding 

 and Salvage Network 



Under the auspices of the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service, the network 

 consists of governmental and nongov- 

 ernmental agencies and numerous vol- 

 unteers. The National Park Service, 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers, N.C. Divi- 

 sion of Marine Fisheries, N.C. State 

 University College of Veterinary Medi- 

 cine and many others provide needed 

 services for the network to accomplish 

 its goals. 



For example, the N.C. Division of 

 Aquariums offers assistance with 

 stranded live turtles that no one else is 

 able to give. 



"To date, the aquariums have gra- 

 ciously accepted the responsibility of 

 rehabilitation despite the fact they do 

 not receive financial assistance for 

 holding debilitated turtles," Boettcher 

 says. "To help relieve the aquariums of 

 this burden, sea turtle volunteers on 

 Topsail Island are establishing an on- 

 site rehabilitation facility they hope to 

 have running by this spring." 



The North Carolina network cur- 



rently has 

 more than 300 

 participants 

 patrolling the 

 state's sea- 

 ward and land- 

 ward coast- 

 lines. After 

 completing a 

 training work- 

 shop, volun- 

 teers and gov- 

 ernment-run 

 sea turtle pro- 

 tection 

 projects are 

 issued endan- 

 gered species 

 permits by the 

 N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources 

 Commission. 

 The permits 

 allow indi- 

 viduals affili- 

 ated with these 

 projects to 

 handle sea turtles in a fashion strictly 

 in compliance with the Endangered 

 Species Act. 



Stranding network participants 

 report dead turtles, identify the species, 

 take measurements, look for external 

 flipper tags and carefully examine car- 

 casses for visible injuries or abnormali- 

 ties that may aid in determining the 

 cause of death. 



When they find live stranded 

 turtles, they protect the animals from 

 harassment, keep them wet and shaded, 

 and help ensure their safe transport to 

 one of North Carolina's three state 

 aquariums for rehabilitation. 



Stranding reports submitted by 

 network members give Boettcher and 

 Teas the data they need to calculate the 

 number of strandings, when and where 

 they occur, and whether there were any 

 unusual clusters of strandings during 

 the year. 



Many network members also 

 monitor and protect sea turtle nests but 

 must perform these duties without dis- 

 Continued on page 22 



