Status and Distribution of the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Biscayne Bay

Mazzotti, Frank; Cherkiss, Michael

Biscayne Bay, and to make management recommendations. The American crocodile has made a comeback in southern Biscayne Bay in areas where suitable habitat remains, or in some cases where an area has been modified by humans to make it more attractive to crocodiles. Inadvertently creating nesting habitat through dredge and fill activities at the Turkey Point Power Plant site and the Basin Hills area of Crocodile Lakes National Wildlife Refuge has to some extent compensated for the loss of nesting habitat elsewhere in the Bay. Adult crocodiles are clustered around, but not restricted to, these nesting areas. The shoreline, canals, and ponds of the southern Biscayne Bay/Card Sound/Barnes Sound area provide essential habitat for juvenile and subadult crocodiles and along with the nesting areas meet all of the life stage requirements to support the continued recovery of this endangered species. The Biscayne Bay study area contains the fastest growing, and possibly the densest, component of the Florida population of American crocodiles. Biscayne Bay provides the unique opportunity to integrate habitat enhancement for an endangered species with ecosystem restoration and management. Crocodiles would benefit from a restored freshwater flow into the estuary. This includes directing flows through mangrove swamps instead of canals when possible, and maintaining freshwater flow into the beginning of the dry season. Biscayne Bay should be considered as part of the South Florida estuarine ecosystem along with Florida Bay and the Gulf Coast, and should benefit mutually from restoration and management planning. It is likely that the number of crocodiles will continue to increase in the study area even if no habitat enhancement takes place. This will exacerbate a growing problem concerning interactions between humans and crocodiles. The challenge of integrating a recovering population of the American crocodile with an ever increasing use of coastal areas by humans will require a proactive education program and will be the final challenge in the successful recovery of this once critically endangered species