GREEN TURTLE

Monitoring in-water green turtle populations since 2003

Brevard County, an isolated shallow nearshore reef resides from the shoreline out to approximately 150m along a 14.5-kilometer stretch of beach. East Coast Biologists, Inc. began a study of the marine turtle population using the nearshore hardbottom reefs in this area in 2003. Researchers observed juvenile green turtles and, occasionally, a loggerhead sea turtle over the nearshore reefs.These nearshore reefs provide shelter from predators like sharks and macroalgae for growing juvenile green sea turtles to forage on. Genetic data showed most of these turtles inhabiting the reefs in our study area hatched from the beaches as far away as Tortuguero, Cost Rica! To better understand the importance of this habitat, researchers placed acoustic transmitters on 15 juvenile green turtles to learn whether turtles are “residents” or “transients” just passing through. Results of acoustic tracking and recapture data indicated juvenile green turtles use this nearshore habitat anywhere from 30 days to a year or longer.