50748 Entity Published / External 26875 Monthly morphometric data on captive loggerhead sea turtles 1995-present Data Set Completed 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. Records on the feeding rates of each species, of each yearclass are maintained daily as are data on water quality, animal husbandry cleaning schedules, number of people visiting the facility, and general maintenance. Monitor growth of captive reared sea turtles for class of 2007 There are some blank empty rows in the archive that can simply be deleted. There are a few rows that give average length and weight measurements by a measuring period Theme body depth Theme caretta caretta Theme length Theme loggerhead Theme morphometric data Theme sea turtle Theme weight Temporal 2007 Spreadsheet Yes 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. 10 SPECIES CHARACTER 22 Yes No Active Genus and species of sea turtle. The Genus may be abbreviated to one letter in certain cases C.caretta It is always C.caretta Must be C.caretta 20 YEARCLASS NUMERIC 4 Yes No Active Year in which sea turtle hatched. 30 MEASUREMENT_DATE Date 10 Yes No Active Date on which the measurement was recorded MM/DD/YYYY 45 Nest Character 10 Yes No Active Nest 50 Raceway Character 6 Yes No Active The location in which the sea turtle was housed 55 Position Character No No Active Position 60 FLIPPER_TAG_CODE_1 CHARACTER 6 No No Active Monel alloy flipper tag with a 6 character code of letters and numbers SSS801 70 FLIPPER_TAG_LOCATION_1 CHARACTER 20 No No Active Location on the sea turtle to which the flipper tag is attached 100 WEIGHT_G NUMERIC 8 Yes No 1 Active Weight if Turttle in grams grams ##.# 110 LENGTH_CM NUMERIC 5 Yes No 2 Active 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 cm 48.3 #.## 120 WIDTH_CM NUMERIC 5 Yes No 2 Active Maximum width in centimeters. Measurment is taken with calipers at the largest width of the carapace cm #.## 130 DEPTH_CM NUMERIC 5 Yes No 2 Active Maximum body depth taken with calipers and measured in centimeters. cm #.## 140 PIT_TAG_CODE_1 CHARACTER 15 No No Active Passive Integrated Transponder Code of the first transponder. 150 PIT_TAG_LOCATION_1 CHARACTER 20 No No Active The location of the first PIT tag within the sea turtle 180 PIT_TAG_CODE_2 CHARACTER 35 No No Active Passive Integrated Transponder Code of the Second transponder. 190 PIT_TAG_LOCATION_2 CHARACTER 20 No No Active The location of the Second PIT tag within the sea turtle 210 RELEASE_DATE Date 10 No No Active Date on which the sea turtle was released into the wild. MM/DD/YYYY 220 RELEASE_ LOCATION CHARACTER 100 No No Active Location where the sea turtle was released back into the wild. 300 Notes CHARACTER 300 No No Active Comments on release. Data Steward 1995 Person Higgins, Benjamin ben.higgins@noaa.gov 4700 Avenue U Galveston TX 77551 409-766-3670 Contact by email preferred. Distributor 2017 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information NCEI ncei.info@noaa.gov https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. Online Resource Metadata Contact 1995 Person Higgins, Benjamin ben.higgins@noaa.gov 4700 Avenue U Galveston TX 77551 409-766-3670 Contact by email preferred. Point of Contact 2015 Person Baumer, Tim J tim.baumer@noaa.gov 4700 Avenue U Galveston TX 77551 409-766-3784 Contact by email preferred. Unclassified None None Download From provided url None Not for use in litigation. Please cite appropriately. None Please cite appropriately. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0157625/2.2/data/0-data/Galveston_Turtle_Program/26875/CSV/2007/Renamed_Data_Table.csv 2017 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 Renamed_Data_Table.csv File for Captive Raised Loggerhead Turtles, Class of 2007 tabular digital data (Microsoft Excel, CSV, or other tabular format) CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text) gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:50748 Lee Weinberger 2017-12-13T19:29:01 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2026-03-04T19:17:17 2021-04-29 Southeast Fisheries Science Center SEFSC 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA (305)361-5761 www.sefsc.noaa.gov 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST 1001 Public No 2021-04-29 1 Year 2022-04-29