Hypothermic Stunning and Mortality of Marine Turtles in the Indian River Lagoon System, Florida
Witherington BE and Ehrhart LM. 1989. Hypothermic Stunning and Mortality of Marine Turtles in the Indian River Lagoon System, Florida. Copeia. 1989(3):696-703
Periods of extremely cold weather stunned marine turtles inhabiting the northern segment of the Indian River Lagoon system in January 1977, 1978, 1981, 1985 and 1986. Generally, morning water surface temperatures were below 8.0 C. These events involved 342 green (Chelonia mydas) turtles, 123 loggerhead (Carretta carretta) turtles and 2 Ke,p's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) turtles. Most animals were rescued alive and released later. A greater proportion of resident green turtles than loggerhead was affected by the cold water. Impacts of these hypothermic stunning events on lagoonal populations, especially green turtles, are potentially devastating. A trapping effect exhibited by Mosquito Lagoon and the northern Indian River may prevent resident turtles from locating refuges thereby contributing to the occurrence of cold-stunning events there. As a possible result of frequent cold-stunning events, fewer green turtles inhabit Mosquito Lagoon than other parts of the Indian River Lagoon System.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Witherington, Blair; Ehrhart, Llewellyn
- Units
- CANA
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Atmospheric Sciences, green turtle ( Chelonia mydas), Indian River Estuarine System, Kemp's ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerhead turtle(Carretta carretta), Mosquito Lagoon