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Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys kempii

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Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle. Lepidochelys kempii. 1992 Recovery Plan. Population Status ... Determine significance of the northeast and mid-Atlantic juveniles ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys kempii


1
Kemps Ridley Sea TurtleLepidochelys kempii
  • 1992 Recovery Plan

2
Population Status
  • 1947- Photographic evidence suggests 40,000
    nesting females in one day on beach (Rancho
    Nuevo) in Northwest Mexico
  • 1968 The number of nesting females at a single
    site declined to 5,000
  • 1991 The number of nesting females at a single
    site was reduced to 200.

3
Do the Math
  • What percent of nesting females remained in 1991
    from the original estimation in 1947?
  • 1/2 of 1 percent

4
Why is this significant?
  • Because nearly the entire adult female population
    nests at a single locality, it is possible to
    estimate the females reproductive population by
    counting all the nests laid at this site.

5
Who is not being counted?
  • Males, immature turtles, and the sparce breeding
    groups of female turtles that are dispersed
    between Padre Island, TX and Isla Aguada,
    Campeche.
  • Males and juveniles do not frequent beaches and
    therefore are difficult to count, currently
    females are the only measure of the turtle
    population.

6
Endangered Status
  • Kemps Ridleys were listed as endangered in the
    United States on December 2, 1970.
  • Internationally, L. kempii are considered the
    most endangered sea turtle.
  • Kemps Ridleys are listed in Appendix 1 of CITES

7
Historic Threats
  • Man induced mortality is to blame for the
    observed modern decline of the species.
  • In Texas, early settlers began to exploit coastal
    turtles. There were once turtle canneries along
    the Texas coast.
  • Eggs were harvested at Rancho Nuevo from the
    1940s to the 1960s

8
Nesting Threats
  • Human development along beach fronts
  • Armoring, nourishment, or cleaning of beaches
  • Motorized equipment along the beach crush buried
    eggs
  • Collection of corals is leading to increased
    flooding which places eggs at risk for drowning.

9
Threats to the Marine Environment
  • Commercial Fisheries incidental take by the
    shrimping industry is the largest source of
    mortality for L. kempii
  • Turtles are held under water by trawl nets and
    drown because they can not reach the surface to
    breathe.

10
Threats from the Oil Industry
  • The two primary feeding grounds for adult L.
    kempii are near major off-shore and on-shore oil
    exploration.
  • The beach at Nuevo Rancho was affected by a large
    oil spill in 1979.
  • Oil has been documented in lab studies to cause
    skin alteration, decreased blood glucose, and
    increased white blood cell counts in L. kempii.

11
Threats from Floating Debris
  • Plastics, monofilament, discarded netting are
    known to entangle turtles resulting in a death
    trap.
  • Ingestion of plastic, rubber, fishing line, and
    hooks, tar cellophane, rope, string, wax,
    Stryofoam, charcoal, aluminum cans, and cigarette
    filters has occurred in sea turtles.
  • Digestive tract impaction and toxic absorption
    are the 2 major environmental risks to L. kempii.

12
Threats from Dredging
  • Dredging operations affect L. kempii through
    incidental take and by degrading the habitat.
  • Incidental take of Ridleys has been documented
    with hopper dredges.
  • In addition to direct take, channelization of the
    inshore and nearshore areas can degrade the
    foraging and migratory habitat through soil
    dumping, degraded water quality, and altered
    current flow.

13
Conservation History
  • Mexico passed laws to protect Rancho Nuevo beach
    in 1966.
  • From 1966-1977 an average of 23,000 hatchlings
    were released annually.
  • From 1978-today, 54,000 hatchlings are released
    annually.
  • When nests are laid, they are then moved the same
    day to fenced and guarded corals.

14
Conservation Data
Kemp's ridley turtle nesting at Rancho Nuevo
beach, Tamaulipas, México.
15
Turtle Excluder Device
  • In 1987, the United States required all shrimp
    fleet vessels to install TEDs.

16
MARPOL
  • Treaty restricts the discharge of plastics and
    other garbage into the marine environment.
  • Because of the vast amount of trash discarded in
    the Gulf of Mexico, it was added as a special
    area under Anex V of MARPOL in 1992

17
Captive Breeding Programs
  • Using head-started turtles that have been
    retained until adulthood, living hatchlings have
    been produced.
  • Fertility rates in captive breeding are lower
    than found in natural settings.
  • The practice of imprinting was used to encourage
    hatchlings to return to South Padre Island
    Seashore.

18
Goal of 1992 Recovery Plan
  • To bring L. kempii to form endangered to
    threatened status utilizing the following
    criteria
  • Complete and active protection of nesting beaches
    and surrounding waters
  • Elimination of mortality from incidental catch in
    commercial shrimping in the US and Mexico through
    the use of TEDs.
  • Attain a population of at least 10,000 females
  • Successfully implement all priority one recovery
    tasks

19
Protect and Manage Nesting Habitats
  • Encourage Mexico to expand and codify the Kemps
    Ridley National Reserve at Rancho Nuevo.
  • Encourage Mexico to restrict development that may
    degrade the nesting habitat.
  • Identify additional nesting beaches in Mexico
  • Manage other nesting beaches

20
Protect and Manage the Marine Environment
  • Identify important marine habitat
  • Identify threats to marine habitat
  • Prevent destruction of marine habitat

21
Protect and manage populations on nesting beaches
  • Protect nesting females
  • Protect nests and increase production
  • Protect and increase viability of hatchlings
  • Monitor population trends

22
Protect population in the marine environment
  • Determine distribution and abundance
  • Determine habitat use by neonates/pelagic
    juveniles
  • Determine seasonal use of nearshore habitat by
    juveniles/subadults
  • Determine migratory paths and foraging areas
  • Determine significance of the northeast and
    mid-Atlantic juveniles

23
Monitor and reduce mortality from fisheries
  • Enforce TED regulation and expand use
  • Define law and enforce the existing prohibition
    of trawling within the Rancho Nuevo Reserve.
  • Encourage and assist Mexico to use TEDs
  • Maintain the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage
    Network

24
Other Efforts for Conservation
  • Monitor and reduce impacts from petroleum
    activities
  • Monitor and reduce impacts from dredging
    activities
  • Reduce oceanic pollution
  • Maintain captive stocks
  • Increase education programs

25
Your assignment
  • Choose one part of the recovery plan proposed in
    1992.
  • Research to find out if the plan was ever
    implemented.
  • If the plan was implemented was it successful?
  • If the plan was not implemented why not?

26
Source
  • Recovery Plan for the Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle
    Lepidochelys kempii created by the US Department
    of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration, National Marine Fisheries
    Service, US Department of the Interior, and the
    US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1992
    http//www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/recovery/turtle_k
    empsridley.pdf
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