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FINAL PROGRAMMATIC BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON U.S. NAVY ACTIVITIES IN THE HAWAII RANGE COMPLEX 2008-2013 3.3.8 Loggerhead Sea Turtle Distribution Loggerheads are circumglobal, inhabiting continental shelves, bays, estuaries, and lagoons in temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters. Major nesting grounds are generally located in temperate and subtropical regions, with scattered nesting in the tropics (in <strong>NMFS</strong> and USFWS 1998). Population Structure Loggerhead sea turtles, like other sea turtles, are divided into regional groupings that represent major oceans or seas: the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In these regions, the population structure of loggerhead turtles are usually based on the distribution of their nesting aggregations (see Table 5). In the Pacific Ocean, loggerhead turtles are represented by a northwestern Pacific nesting aggregation (located in Japan) which may be comprised of separate nesting groups (Hatase et al. 2002) and a smaller southwestern nesting aggregation that occurs in Australia (Great Barrier Reef and Queensland), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. One of the largest loggerhead nesting aggregations in the world is found in Oman, in the Indian Ocean. Based on genetic analyses of loggerhead sea turtles captured in pelagic longline fisheries in the same general area as that of the proposed action, loogerhead sea turtles along the southeastern coast of the United States might originate from one of the five major nesting aggregations in the western North Atlantic: (1) a northern nesting aggregation that occurs from North Carolina to northeast Florida, about 29 ° N; (2) a south Florida nesting aggregation, occurring from 29 ° N on the east coast to Sarasota on the west coast; (3) a Florida panhandle nesting aggregation, occurring at Eglin Air Force Base and the beaches near Panama City, Florida; (4) a Yucatán nesting aggregation, occurring on the eastern Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico; and (5) a Dry Tortugas nesting aggregation that occurs in the islands of the Dry Tortugas near Key West, Florida (<strong>NMFS</strong> 2001). Loggerhead sea turtles from the northern nesting aggregation, which represents about 9% of the loggerhead nests in the western North Atlantic, comprise more between 25 and 59% of the loggerhead sea turtles captured in foraging areas from Georgia to waters of the northeastern United States (Bass et al. 1998, Norrgard 1995, Rankin-Baransky 1997, Sears 1994, Sears et al. 1995). About 10% of the loggerhead sea turtles in foraging areas off the Atlantic coast of central Florida will have originated from the northern nesting aggregation (Witzell 1999). Loggerhead sea turtles associated with the South Florida nesting aggregation, in contrast, occur in higher frequencies in the Gulf of Mexico (where they represent about 10% of the loggerhead sea turtles captured) and the Mediterranean Sea (where they represent about 45-47% of the loggerhead sea turtles captured). Threats to the Species NATURAL THREATS. The various habitat types loggerhead sea turtles occupy throughout their lives exposes these sea turtles to a wide variety of natural and anthropogenic threats. The beaches on which loggerhead sea turtles nest and the nests themselves are threatened by hurricanes and tropical storms as well as the storm surges, sand accretion, and rainfall that are associated with hurricanes. For example, in 1992, all of the eggs over a 90-mile length of coastal Florida were destroyed by storm surges on beaches that were closest to the eye of Hurricane Andrew (Milton et al. 132
FINAL PROGRAMMATIC BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON U.S. NAVY ACTIVITIES IN THE HAWAII RANGE COMPLEX 2008-2013 1994). Hatchlings are hunted by predators like herons, gulls, dogfish, and sharks. Adult hawksbill sea turtles are also killed by sharks and other large, marine predators. Loggerhead sea turtles are also killed by cold stunning, exposure to biotoxins, sharks and other large, marine predators. Table 5. Nesting populations of loggerhead sea turtles that have been identified using molecular genetics (after Hutchinson and Dutton 2007) Ocean Basin Population Atlantic (eastern) (the Cape Verde rookeries appear to be genetically distinct, the other rookeries listed have not been evaluated) 1 Cape Verde 2 Greece 3 Libya 4 Turkey 5 West African coast Atlantic (western) and Caribbean 6 Northern (U.S.) including rookeries from southern Virginia south to Florida 7 Florida peninsula which includes rookeries from the northeastern border of Florida south to southwestern Florida 8 Dry Tortugas, which includes the islands of Key West 9 Northern Gulf of Mexico, which extends from northwestern Florida into Texas 10 Cay Sal bank in thee western Bahamas 11 Quintana Roo, which includes all rookeries on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula 12 Brazil 13 Additional rookeries in Caribbean Central America, the Bahamian Archipelago, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and the eastern Caribbean Islands have not been classified Indian Ocean (none of these rookeries have been evaluated genetically) 14 Oman 15 Yemen 16 Sri Lanka 17 Madagascar 18 South Africa and (possibly) Mozambique Pacific Ocean 19 Western Australia 20 Eastern Australia, which may include rookeries from New Caledonia 21 North Pacific or Japan, which includes all rookeries in the Japanese Archipelago 22 Solomon Islands ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS. A wide variety of human activities adversely affect hatchlings and adult female turtles when they are on land, including beach erosion, beach armoring and nourishment; artificial lighting; beach cleaning; human presence on nesting beaches; beach driving; coastal construction and fishing piers that alter patterns of erosion and accretion on nesting beaches; exotic dune and beach vegetation; and poaching. As the size of the human population in coastal areas increases, that population brings with it secondary threats such as exotic fire ants, feral hogs, dogs, and the growth of populations native species that tolerate human presence (e.g., raccoons, armadillos, and opossums) and which feed on turtle eggs. 133
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