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Summary

Abstract

The NOAA Galveston Laboratory has been raising sea turtles in captivity since 1977. Most notable is the Kemp's ridley headstart program [1978-1992] which captive reared up to 2,000 Kemp's ridley hatchlings per year until they were large enough to receive up to 4 tags, then they were released into the wild in the Gulf of Mexico. From 1978-1989, Kemp's ridley eggs were taken from the nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico and artificially incubated at Padre Island National Seashore [PINS] near Corpus Christi, TX. When the hatchlings emerged, they were allowed to imprint on the beach at PINS and briefly swim in the Gulf of Mexico before they were netted and transported to the NOAA Galveston Laboratory for headstarting. Kemp's ridleys were tagged starting with the living tag at 7-9 months of age, then flipper tagged, coded wire tag, and passive integrated transponder tag [PIT starting in the late 1980s] just prior to release. Kemp's yearlings from 1978-1992 were primarily released offshore of Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico. Starting in 1990, Kemp's ridleys hatchlings [2,000 per year] that were imprinted at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, were brought directly to NOAA Galveston for headstarting. These yearling Kemp's ridleys were released offshore of Galveston, Texas. From 1993-2000, 180-200 Kemp's ridly hatchlings were gifted to NOAA Galveston from the government of Mexico and these hatchlings were captive reared in the same manner as headstarted turtles, but were released offshore of Galveston, Texas. Post-headstart Kemp's ridleys were used for testing and evaluating Turtle Excluder Devices [TEDs] and for physiology and tag development experiments. In 2013, 100 Kemp's ridley hatchlings were collected from 3 nests on South Padre Island, Texas, and they were captive reared for a year and used for testing TEDs for skimmer trawls. The 2013 year class Kemp's ridleys were released offshore of South Padre Island in 2014. In preparation for Kemp's ridleys starting in 1978, the NOAA Galveston Laboratory received 2,000 loggerhead hatchlings in 1977 to test sea turtle rearing facilities which were modified shrimp rearing tanks. During the Kemp's ridley headstart program, Florida loggerheads were raised alongside the Kemp's ridleys. The captive rearing of loggerheads was not part of the headstart program. Loggerheads were used as both yearling and 2 year olds for developing and certifying TEDs. From 2001-2016 [except 2013], the NOAA Galveston Laboratory raised only Florida loggerheads sourced as hatchlings from beaches in Clearwater, Sarasota, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Juno Beach, and Melbourne Beach, Florida. The loggerhead captive rearing program was a joint project with the State of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection [FDEP] and then the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission [FWC]. Loggerhead hatchlings were collected post emergence in cages, or excavated just prior to emergence depending on the location of collection. In 1996, a wild loggerhead sea turtle nested on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas and the eggs were sent to PINS for incubation. Thirty of the 1996 Texas loggerhead hatchlings from the Bolivar clutch were collected at PINS and transported to NOAA Galveston for captive rearing and use in tag development and TED testing research. Loggerheads were used for a variety of physiology, pharmacokinetic, sensory and behavioral experiments as well as tag development, hook and bait research related to the pelagic longline fishery. Loggerheads were captive reared for up to 4 years depending on the research need. During captive rearing, sea turtles are regularly weighed and measured, usually on a 4 week interval. Morphometric measurements such as carapace length, carapace width, body depth and weight are taken to track growth and health. Measurements may be taken on all sea turtles within a year class or a smaller sub-set and the average used for the entire year class. Morphometric measurements may be taken more frequently than every 4 weeks if a critical need arises for a specific sized sea turtle for research project. When tags are applied, the codes and locations of those tags are recorded in the database corresponding to the year class of the sea turtles. Sometimes multiple tags of the same kind were applied as part of tag research programs. When research is completed, the turtles are released back into the wild in a location that best matches the natural location where a sea turtle of that size might be found. Florida loggerheads were typically released back in Florida waters or Federal waters offshore of the State of Florida. Body weight is used to calculate food rations and sea turtles are raised to whatever size is required for fisheries research. A two-year-old loggerhead raised at the NOAA Galveston Laboratory is the scientific standard for testing and certifying TEDs. The two-year-old loggerhead is used as a surrogate for a 2-3-year-old Kemp's ridley, which is the smallest size sea turtle encountered in the Gulf of Mexico [GOM] shrimp fishery in the and Southeast Atlantic in the USA. The NOAA Galveston Laboratory is the only place in the world where sea turtles are raised in captivity specifically for fisheries research.

Description

The database contains monthly measurements taken on captive reared sea turtles. Measurements include: straight carapace length nuchal notch to carapace tip, straight carapace width maximum width, body depth maximum, weight.

Entity Information

Entity Type
Spreadsheet

Data Attribute / Type Description
SPECIES
CHARACTER
Genus and species of sea turtle
YEARCLASS
NUMERIC
Year in which sea turtle hatched
MEASUREMENT_DATE
NUMERIC
Date on which the measurement was recorded
GROUP
CHARACTER
A subset of sea turtles recorded separately for specific research, health or behavior
NEST
Character
Nest Identifier
RACEWAY
CHARACTER
The location in which the sea turtle was housed
ROW
CHARACTER
Within the raceways, there are rearing containers arranged in rows and columns. This is the column number of the rearing container in which the sea turtle was raised.
COLUMN
CHARACTER
The column number of the rearing containers in which the turtle was raised.
DIET
CHARACTER
The diet which was fed to the sea turtles
POSITION
NUMERIC
The position in which the rearing container for each sea turtle is arranged within the raceway
FLIPPER_TAG_CODE_1
CHARACTER
Monel alloy flipper tag with a 6 character code of letters and numbers
FLIPPER_TAG_LOCATION_1
CHARACTER
Location on the sea turtle to which the flipper tag is attached
WEIGHT_G
NUMERIC
Weight in grams
LENGTH_CM
NUMERIC
Straight carapace length in centimeters. Measurement is taken with calipers from the nuchal notch of the carapace to the most posterior tip of the carapace
WIDTH_CM
NUMERIC
Maximum width in centimeters. Measurment is taken with calipers at the largest width of the carapace
DEPTH_CM
NUMERIC
Maximum body depth taken with calipers and measured in centimeters.
PIT_TAG_CODE_1
CHARACTER
Passive Integrated Transponder Code of the first transponder.
PIT_TAG_LOCATION_1
CHARACTER
The location of the first PIT tag within the sea turtle
RELEASE_DATE
NUMERIC
Date on which the sea turtle was released into the wild.
Release_Location
CHARACTER
Location where the sea turtle was released back into the wild.
Comments
Character
Any comment/note that is relevant to this record

Distribution Information

  • CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text), 211K

Child Items

No Child Items for this record.

Contact Information

Point of Contact
Tim J Baumer
tim.baumer@noaa.gov
409-766-3784

Metadata Contact
Benjamin Higgins
ben.higgins@noaa.gov
409-766-3670

Item Identification

Title: Monthly morphometric data on captive Kemps ridley sea turtles Class of 2013
Short Name: Class of 2013
Abstract:

The NOAA Galveston Laboratory has been raising sea turtles in captivity since 1977. Most notable is the Kemp's ridley headstart program [1978-1992] which captive reared up to 2,000 Kemp's ridley hatchlings per year until they were large enough to receive up to 4 tags, then they were released into the wild in the Gulf of Mexico. From 1978-1989, Kemp's ridley eggs were taken from the nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico and artificially incubated at Padre Island National Seashore [PINS] near Corpus Christi, TX. When the hatchlings emerged, they were allowed to imprint on the beach at PINS and briefly swim in the Gulf of Mexico before they were netted and transported to the NOAA Galveston Laboratory for headstarting. Kemp's ridleys were tagged starting with the living tag at 7-9 months of age, then flipper tagged, coded wire tag, and passive integrated transponder tag [PIT starting in the late 1980s] just prior to release. Kemp's yearlings from 1978-1992 were primarily released offshore of Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico. Starting in 1990, Kemp's ridleys hatchlings [2,000 per year] that were imprinted at Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, were brought directly to NOAA Galveston for headstarting. These yearling Kemp's ridleys were released offshore of Galveston, Texas. From 1993-2000, 180-200 Kemp's ridly hatchlings were gifted to NOAA Galveston from the government of Mexico and these hatchlings were captive reared in the same manner as headstarted turtles, but were released offshore of Galveston, Texas. Post-headstart Kemp's ridleys were used for testing and evaluating Turtle Excluder Devices [TEDs] and for physiology and tag development experiments. In 2013, 100 Kemp's ridley hatchlings were collected from 3 nests on South Padre Island, Texas, and they were captive reared for a year and used for testing TEDs for skimmer trawls. The 2013 year class Kemp's ridleys were released offshore of South Padre Island in 2014. In preparation for Kemp's ridleys starting in 1978, the NOAA Galveston Laboratory received 2,000 loggerhead hatchlings in 1977 to test sea turtle rearing facilities which were modified shrimp rearing tanks. During the Kemp's ridley headstart program, Florida loggerheads were raised alongside the Kemp's ridleys. The captive rearing of loggerheads was not part of the headstart program. Loggerheads were used as both yearling and 2 year olds for developing and certifying TEDs. From 2001-2016 [except 2013], the NOAA Galveston Laboratory raised only Florida loggerheads sourced as hatchlings from beaches in Clearwater, Sarasota, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Juno Beach, and Melbourne Beach, Florida. The loggerhead captive rearing program was a joint project with the State of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection [FDEP] and then the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission [FWC]. Loggerhead hatchlings were collected post emergence in cages, or excavated just prior to emergence depending on the location of collection. In 1996, a wild loggerhead sea turtle nested on the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas and the eggs were sent to PINS for incubation. Thirty of the 1996 Texas loggerhead hatchlings from the Bolivar clutch were collected at PINS and transported to NOAA Galveston for captive rearing and use in tag development and TED testing research. Loggerheads were used for a variety of physiology, pharmacokinetic, sensory and behavioral experiments as well as tag development, hook and bait research related to the pelagic longline fishery. Loggerheads were captive reared for up to 4 years depending on the research need. During captive rearing, sea turtles are regularly weighed and measured, usually on a 4 week interval. Morphometric measurements such as carapace length, carapace width, body depth and weight are taken to track growth and health. Measurements may be taken on all sea turtles within a year class or a smaller sub-set and the average used for the entire year class. Morphometric measurements may be taken more frequently than every 4 weeks if a critical need arises for a specific sized sea turtle for research project. When tags are applied, the codes and locations of those tags are recorded in the database corresponding to the year class of the sea turtles. Sometimes multiple tags of the same kind were applied as part of tag research programs. When research is completed, the turtles are released back into the wild in a location that best matches the natural location where a sea turtle of that size might be found. Florida loggerheads were typically released back in Florida waters or Federal waters offshore of the State of Florida. Body weight is used to calculate food rations and sea turtles are raised to whatever size is required for fisheries research. A two-year-old loggerhead raised at the NOAA Galveston Laboratory is the scientific standard for testing and certifying TEDs. The two-year-old loggerhead is used as a surrogate for a 2-3-year-old Kemp's ridley, which is the smallest size sea turtle encountered in the Gulf of Mexico [GOM] shrimp fishery in the and Southeast Atlantic in the USA. The NOAA Galveston Laboratory is the only place in the world where sea turtles are raised in captivity specifically for fisheries research.

Purpose:

Monitor growth of captive reared sea turtles

Supplemental Information:

Average Weight, Average Length, Average Width and Average Depth Measurements are inlcluded in the file by measurement date

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None body depth
None Kemp's ridley
None length
None morphometric data
None sea turtle
None weight

Temporal Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None 2013-2014

Physical Location

Organization: National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland
City: Silver Spring
State/Province: MD

Entity Information

Entity Type: Spreadsheet
Description:

The database contains monthly measurements taken on captive reared sea turtles. Measurements include: straight carapace length nuchal notch to carapace tip, straight carapace width maximum width, body depth maximum, weight.

Data Attributes

Attribute Summary

Rubric Score Primary Key? Name Type Description
100
SPECIES CHARACTER Genus and species of sea turtle
100
YEARCLASS NUMERIC Year in which sea turtle hatched
100
MEASUREMENT_DATE NUMERIC Date on which the measurement was recorded
100
GROUP CHARACTER A subset of sea turtles recorded separately for specific research, health or behavior
100
NEST Character Nest Identifier
100
RACEWAY CHARACTER The location in which the sea turtle was housed
100
ROW CHARACTER Within the raceways, there are rearing containers arranged in rows and columns. This is the column number of the rearing container in which the sea turtle was raised.
100
COLUMN CHARACTER The column number of the rearing containers in which the turtle was raised.
100
DIET CHARACTER The diet which was fed to the sea turtles
100
POSITION NUMERIC The position in which the rearing container for each sea turtle is arranged within the raceway
100
FLIPPER_TAG_CODE_1 CHARACTER Monel alloy flipper tag with a 6 character code of letters and numbers
100
FLIPPER_TAG_LOCATION_1 CHARACTER Location on the sea turtle to which the flipper tag is attached
100
WEIGHT_G NUMERIC Weight in grams
100
LENGTH_CM NUMERIC Straight carapace length in centimeters. Measurement is taken with calipers from the nuchal notch of the carapace to the most posterior tip of the carapace
100
WIDTH_CM NUMERIC Maximum width in centimeters. Measurment is taken with calipers at the largest width of the carapace
100
DEPTH_CM NUMERIC Maximum body depth taken with calipers and measured in centimeters.
100
PIT_TAG_CODE_1 CHARACTER Passive Integrated Transponder Code of the first transponder.
100
PIT_TAG_LOCATION_1 CHARACTER The location of the first PIT tag within the sea turtle
100
RELEASE_DATE NUMERIC Date on which the sea turtle was released into the wild.
100
Release_Location CHARACTER Location where the sea turtle was released back into the wild.
100
Comments Character Any comment/note that is relevant to this record

Attribute Details

SPECIES

CC ID: 353244
Seq. Order: 10
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 22
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Genus and species of sea turtle

YEARCLASS

CC ID: 353245
Seq. Order: 20
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 4
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Year in which sea turtle hatched

MEASUREMENT_DATE

CC ID: 353246
Seq. Order: 30
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 10
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Date on which the measurement was recorded

GROUP

CC ID: 353247
Seq. Order: 40
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 20
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

A subset of sea turtles recorded separately for specific research, health or behavior

NEST

CC ID: 753336
Seq. Order: 45
Data Storage Type: Character
Max Length: 20
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Nest Identifier

RACEWAY

CC ID: 353276
Seq. Order: 48
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 11
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The location in which the sea turtle was housed

ROW

CC ID: 353248
Seq. Order: 50
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 2
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Within the raceways, there are rearing containers arranged in rows and columns. This is the column number of the rearing container in which the sea turtle was raised.

COLUMN

CC ID: 353249
Seq. Order: 60
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 1
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The column number of the rearing containers in which the turtle was raised.

DIET

CC ID: 353250
Seq. Order: 70
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 12
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The diet which was fed to the sea turtles

POSITION

CC ID: 353251
Seq. Order: 80
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 3
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The position in which the rearing container for each sea turtle is arranged within the raceway

FLIPPER_TAG_CODE_1

CC ID: 353252
Seq. Order: 90
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 6
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Monel alloy flipper tag with a 6 character code of letters and numbers

FLIPPER_TAG_LOCATION_1

CC ID: 353253
Seq. Order: 100
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 20
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Location on the sea turtle to which the flipper tag is attached

WEIGHT_G

CC ID: 353256
Seq. Order: 130
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 8
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Weight in grams

LENGTH_CM

CC ID: 353261
Seq. Order: 140
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 5
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Straight carapace length in centimeters. Measurement is taken with calipers from the nuchal notch of the carapace to the most posterior tip of the carapace

WIDTH_CM

CC ID: 353262
Seq. Order: 145
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 5
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Maximum width in centimeters. Measurment is taken with calipers at the largest width of the carapace

DEPTH_CM

CC ID: 353263
Seq. Order: 148
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 5
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Maximum body depth taken with calipers and measured in centimeters.

PIT_TAG_CODE_1

CC ID: 353254
Seq. Order: 150
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 15
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Passive Integrated Transponder Code of the first transponder.

PIT_TAG_LOCATION_1

CC ID: 353255
Seq. Order: 155
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 20
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The location of the first PIT tag within the sea turtle

RELEASE_DATE

CC ID: 353274
Seq. Order: 160
Data Storage Type: NUMERIC
Max Length: 10
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Date on which the sea turtle was released into the wild.

Release_Location

CC ID: 353275
Seq. Order: 170
Data Storage Type: CHARACTER
Max Length: 100
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Location where the sea turtle was released back into the wild.

Comments

CC ID: 753337
Seq. Order: 180
Data Storage Type: Character
Max Length: 100
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Any comment/note that is relevant to this record

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 752508
Date Effective From: 1995
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Higgins, Benjamin
Address: 4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551
Email Address: ben.higgins@noaa.gov
Phone: 409-766-3670
Contact Instructions:

Contact by email preferred.

Distributor

CC ID: 752509
Date Effective From: 2017
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD)
Address: NOAA/NESDIS E/OC SSMC3, 4th Floor, 1351 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282
Phone: (301) 713-3277
Contact Instructions:

Contact by email preferred.

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 752510
Date Effective From: 1995
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Higgins, Benjamin
Address: 4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551
Email Address: ben.higgins@noaa.gov
Phone: 409-766-3670
Contact Instructions:

Contact by email preferred.

Point of Contact

CC ID: 752511
Date Effective From: 1995
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Baumer, Tim J
Address: 4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551
Email Address: tim.baumer@noaa.gov
Phone: 409-766-3784
Contact Instructions:

Contact by email preferred.

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 752507
Start Date: 2016
End Date: Present
Download URL: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0156880/1.1/data/0-data/26907/26907/26907/CSV/LK2013.csv
Distributor: National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland (NCEI-MD) (2017 - Present)
File Name: LK2013.csv
File Date/Time: 2016-10-18 09:44:00
File Type (Deprecated): tabular digital data (Microsoft Excel, CSV, or other tabular format)
Distribution Format: CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text)
File Size: 211K
Compression: Uncompressed
Review Status: Not Chked

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 35236
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:35236
Metadata Record Created By: David Huddleston
Metadata Record Created: 2016-10-11 14:25+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2023-10-17 16:12+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2021-04-29
Owner Org: SEFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2021-04-29
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2022-04-29