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Internal Tags:

Two different types of internal tags are used on sea turtles. Both are injected
with a syringe. Special equipment must be used to tell if a turtle has been
tagged with one of these tags. A magnetometer is used to detect the internal
magnetic wire tag. The Passive Integrated Transponder tag (PIT tag) is a
microchip sealed in a glass tube. It is the size of a grain of rice. It will give a 10
digit code when scanned with a special reader. Each turtle is tagged with
different code.

=

Passive Integrated Transponder Passive Integrated Transponder
(PIT) tag (PIT) tag
Enlarged view Actual size



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behavior and where they like to live. We want to make sure that
humans are not doing anything that could harm them.

One place that we know sea turtles like to live is near oil
platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Many other sea animals do, too.
When they are no longer producing oil, the platforms must be
removed. Explosives are used that could injure any animals living
nearby. Our laboratory sends observers to the platforms before they
are removed to look for sea turtles and dolphins and to make sure
that none are hurt by the blast.

Despite all of our efforts, sometimes sea turtles still die or get
hurt. Biologists from our lab drive up and down the Texas beaches
looking for sea turtles on the beach that are dead or sick or injured.
Sea turtles spend their entire lives in the water. Normally, a sea turtle
is only found on the beach at two times in its life. The mother sea
turtle leaves the ocean to dig a nest on the beach to lay her eggs.
After 2 months the baby sea turtles hatch out of the eggs and crawl
across the beach to reach the ocean. When a turtle washes up on the
beach and it is not nesting or a hatchling that has just left the nest, we
call ita stranding. If a stranded sea turtle is dead, we try to
determine what killed it. This examination is called a necropsy. Ifa
sea turtle strands that is still alive, but sick or injured, we bring it back
to the turtle “sick bay” at our lab. It is cared for until it is well enough to
go back into the ocean. Not all of the sea turtles in the sick bay were
stranded. We also take care of turtles that fishermen have caught on
hook and line. A veterinarian must remove the hook very carefully to
make sure that the turtle is not injured by it. The veterinarian also x-
rays the turtle to see if it has swallowed any hooks. The veterinarian
may have to operate to remove the hook.

All of the sea turtle research at our laboratory helps us learn
more about sea turtle behavior and distribution. Scientists and
lawmakers use this information to make decisions that ensure sea
turtles will survive.


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Connect the dates to plot the movements of this adult female Kemp's Ridley

sea turtle that was caught at Cameron, Louisiana in August 1994. We tracked
her to Rancho Nuevo, Mexico where she nested.



Circle the things that are good for turtles to ©
eat. Put an X through the things that are bad
for turtles to eat.

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selon ‘sseibeas ‘ysiAl|ar ‘qein ‘(sosn|jow) sjjauseaS :pooy
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Main deck
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Pretend that you are a National Marine Fisheries Service Observer and try to find all
the sea turtles and dolphins that are at this oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

(hint: there are 7 dolphins and 8 sea turtles.)



How Radio Tracking Works:
How many things can you find that are different in the bottom picture?

Radio Antenna
- picks up radio tag signals
-directional (loudest when pointed at tag)

-only hear when turtle is at surface oe,
Biologists in boat

listening with
receivers and
headphones

i LP an

ans

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Turtle with radio Hydrophone (underwater microphone)

and sonic tag -picks up sonic tag signals.
-directional (loudest when pointed at tag)
-short range - have to be close to hear

Radio Antenna
- picks up radio tag signals

-directional (loudest when pointed at tag)
-only hear when turtle is at surface

Biologists in boat
aaae listening with
receivers and
headphones

aaa
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cep

Ke. ta

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rea

oe IF on

ane!

Hydrophone (underwater microphone)
-picks up sonic tag signals.

-directional (loudest when pointed at tag)
-short range - have to be close to hear

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Turtle with radio
and sonic tag



Tags:
Before the yearling Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are released, they are tagged

with four different types of tags. The living tag and flipper tags are external
tags that are visible to anyone who sees the turtle. The magnetic tag and
Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT for short) are internal tags that are
injected into the flipper with a syringe. Special equipment must be used to
know if a turtle has been tagged with these tags. The Loggerhead turtles that
we raise are only tagged with flipper tags and PIT tags.

7 |
ax \) Passive
o we Ta eoonder
Oe (PIT) Tag
Internal
Magnetic
Tag

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ore



Fun Facts About Sea Turtles

Most sea turtles nest during the nighttime. Kemp’s ridley sea turtles
nest during the day. Also, large numbers of female ridley sea turtles
nest at the same time in the same location. This mass nesting is
known as an “arribada” (Spanish for “arrival”).

A female sea turtle lays around 100 eggs in each nest (the average
number varies with each species). A female sea turtle will lay several
clutches (or nests of eggs) in each nesting season, but she may not
nest every year.

Sea turtle eggs are flexible and pliable -- not hard like a chicken’s
eggs. The size of the eggs varies with each species, but they are
generally the size of a ping pong ball (1.5 to 2 inches across).

The temperature of a sea turtle nest can affect whether the eggs
develop into male or female turtles. Generally, at temperatures below
28°-30°C (82°-86° F), more male turtles are produced. More females
are produced above those temperatures.

It is impossible to tell whether a hatchling or juvenile sea turtle is a
male or a female just by looking at it. When they are adults, the male
sea turtle will have a much longer tail that extends beyond the shell.

Very little is Known about a young sea turtle’s life once it hatches and
leaves the nesting beach. They disappear offshore and we don't see
them again until they are much larger juveniles. Although we are

gaining information, this early stage of life is known as the “lost year’.

The largest leatherback ever reported measured almost 10 feet (3
meters) from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail. It weighed over
2,000 pounds.

Sea turtles spend 94% to 97% of their time underwater.

The deepest dive depth ever recorded was over 1000 meters
(greater than 3000 feet) by an adult female leatherback.

The longest reported dives range from 2 to 5 hours. Some turtles
normally dive for close to one hour before they surface for a breath.

There is no way at present to determine the age of a sea turtle. Some
people believe that they may live to be over 100 years old.


The National Marine Fisheries Service Galveston Laboratory raises two species of sea
turtles. The hatching turtles are collected from their nesting beach. Kemp's ridleys
come from Rancho Nuevo, Mexico. This is the only major nesting beach for that
species. Kemp's ridley sea turtles nest near Padre Island in Texas occassionally.

Loggerhead sea turtles nest in many areas worldwide. The loggerhead hatchlings that
we receive come from a beach in Tampa, Florida.

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Match the description of the sea turtles with the pictures, then color them
the right color. ,

A. The Kemp's ridley is the smallest sea
turtle and the most endangered. Adults
have a shell that is almost round and is a
little over two feet long. They can weigh
around 100 pounds. Kemp's ridleys like “4
to eat crabs. Baby ridleys are

black, but the adults are olive a
green. fe ,
@ re

B. Green sea turtles aren't really ~ ¢ ae
green - they are different shades of ¥%¥ | a
brown and yellow. (They are named for —~ gk
a green colored fat underneath their shell Soe
that was used in making turtle soup.) Green 1.
turtles do like to eat green things, though -
mostly seagrasses or algae. They are the
only sea turtles that are herbivores (plant

eaters). Eating only planis must be good

because they grow to 3 or 4 feet long and

weigh over 300 pounds!

C. This is the largest sea turtle of all. It can
grow to over 6 feet long and weigh over
1000 pounds. It is black in color and has
seven ridges running down its back. It
doesn't have a hard shell like other sea
turtles. It is covered with a leathery skin.
That's where it gets it's name -
Leatherback! Leatherbacks like to eat
jellyfish.

D. Hawksbill sea turtles like to eat
sponges and they are named for their
pointed "beak" that looks like a bird. They
have a very beautiful shell that is many .%
different colors of gold and brown. They are
endangered because people used their
shells to make jewelry. Hawksbills can grow 3.
to 200 pounds and get to be 3 feet long.

Bonus Question: Can you name the type
of sea turtle found in the Gulf of Mexico that
is not shown here? It is named for it's large
head. It's a reddish brown color. It also
likes to eat crabs and can weigh close to
400 pounds and grow to 3 or 4 feet long.

peeyseb6o7] :snuog ‘yr ‘ae ‘q’'Z !O'L isuemsuy



How Satellite Tracking Works |
Satellites

Ground Station

Turtle with
satellite transmitter

<—_\__————
Gell] Processing Center

NMFS Galveston Laboratory
Biologist with Personal Computer



‘Weighing and Measuring
The turtles are weighed and measured every 2 weeks. The weights are
averaged together. The measurements are used to determine how much “turtle

chow" they should be fed. The turtles are fed 1% of their body weight each day.
It is divided into two feedings - morning and afternoon.



Rehabilitation |

Live stranded sea turtles are brought to our lab and treated for their injuries or
illnesses. Some of the problems that we treat include shark bites, boat propellor
injuries and entanglement in or ingestion of fishing line. Sick turtles are treated
with antibiotics. Most of the turtles are released as soon as they recover.



Sea Turtle Activity
and Coloring Book

Sea Turtle Research at the
NMFS Galveston Laboratory

Sea Turtle Education Program Supplement

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

“National Marine Fisheries Service
Southeast Fisheries Science Center

Galveston Laboratory
4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551-5997


Living Tags:
Living tags are created by

grafting a small piece of the
lighter-colored plastron (lower
shell) onto the darker-colored
carapace (upper shell). This tag
is permanent and will grow as
the turtle grows. It should be
easily recognizable by anyone
seeing the turtle.



Flipper Tags:

Most flipper tags have numbers and letters on them (such as JAW 105) that help
biologists tell different sea turtles apart. They also have an address on the opposite
side. If you see a tagged sea turtle, you should report the tag number to the address
on the tag. Other information on species, size and location of the turtle should also
be reported. The flipper tags may fall off after several years because the turtles
outgrow them. That is why we use 3 other types of tags also. Usually, the flipper
tags don't spell words, but the tags below will if you can unscramble the letters!

1. __ 2.

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Carapace
Endangered

Extinct
Flipper Tag

Hatchling

Internal
Magnetic Tag

Living Tag

Necropsy

PIT Tag

Plastron
Satellite

Scute
Stranding

Syringe
TED

Threatened

Glossary of Terms

Top portion of the shell.
There are not many left. The species is in danger of becoming extinct.

No more of a species lett.

A metal tag put on the flipper, much like having an ear pierced.

Individual identification number. Generally only stays on the turtle for
2-5 years.

A baby sea turtle, right after it hatches.

Small piece of magnetized metal inserted into the flipper (about the
size of the head of a pin). Only gives positive or negative results.

A biological tag. A permanent mark on the carapace created by taking
a small piece of the plastron and grafting it in to the carapace. This tag
will grow for the rest of the turtle’s life. Identifies year class.

Examination of a dead animal to determine cause of death.

Passive Integrated Transponder. The PIT tag is a microchip sealed in
a glass tube about the size of a grain of rice. It is injected internally.
When scanned by a special detector, it will give an individual 10 digit
number . The same tag that veterinarians are using in pets now.

Under portion of the shell.

Object that orbits the earth (in this case they are man made, and
function as relay stations).

The “scales” or divisions on a turtle’s head or shell.

When an animal that normally lives in the water is washed up on the
beach. For a sea turtle, this is anytime it might be found on the beach
EXCEPT for when the mother is nesting or the hatchlings are headed
to sea.

A medical instrument consisting of a hollow needle and a barrel used
for injecting or withdrawing substances (usually fluids) from the body.

Turtle Excluder Device. A trap door in a shrimp net which will allow
the sea turtles an escape route.

The species is in decline. One step above being considered
endangered.



To Learn More About Sea Turtles: |
1. Visit the National Marine Fisheries Service Galveston Laboratory.
Tours are given of our sea turtle facility on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at

10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Please call (409) 766-3670 to
schedule a tour or for more information.

AVENUE U TO 45th STREET —

SAMO SVIS

PARK:NG FOR TEXAS A&M
UN!IVERSTIY AT GALVESTON

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ENTRANCE

ENTRANCE TO SEA
TURTLE FACILITY -
SOUTH GATE

TURTLE
- BARN

3AIWd S¥IS

SEAWALL BLVD.

Bigg ~SCHECK-IN
2. Or visit one of these web sites: fy LOCATION
http://galveston.ssp.nmfs.gov/galv/
nttp://www.nmfs.gov/prot_res/turtles/turtle.html
hitp://www.turtles.org/
http://cccturtle.org/
http://www.seaworld.org/Sea_Turtle/stindex.htm!



This drawing shows the actual size of a hatchling Loggerhead or Kemp's ridley sea
turtle. They are raised in separate containers so that they won't fight with each other.
We also want to make sure that each turtle gets the same amount of food. At first,
they are placed in flower pots inside of a large tank filled with sea water. They are

moved to bigger containers as they grow.



Oil Platform Observer Program:

When platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are no longer producing oil or gas, they must be
removed. Explosives will be used which could harm any animals living near the
platform. Forty-eight hours (2 days) prior to removal, the oil companies are required
to have a NMFS observer on site to look for sea turtles and marine mammals.
Observations may be made from the platform, a derrick barge or work boat. Thirty
minutes before the blast, the observer makes an aerial survey in a helicopter. If no
turtles or marine mammals have been sighted, then they are cleared for removal. Ifa

sea turtle or marine mammal is seen, attempts are made to remove
it from the area so it will not be harmed.

Help the NMFS Observer find his way to
the observation sites!

National
Marine

Fisheries =>



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24 a | 25

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ACROSS

1 Type of tag where lighter colored bottom shellis
grafted onto darker top shell (2 words)

3 Shape of an adult Kemp's ridley's shell

9 Scientific name forbottom shel of a turtle
12Aimost extinct

14 Type of "fish" that Leatherbacks eat (that's not really a
fish)

17 When a baby sea turtles leaves the egg

18 When a nor-nesting turtle washes up on the beach
19 What green turlles like to eat

21 Metal tag that has number, letters and an address (2
words)

23 Used to listen for "beeping" tracking tags

24 Another food green sea turtles like to eat

25 Mother sea turtles lays a nest of these on the beach

DOWN

1 Type of sea turlle raised by Galveston Lab thatis used in TED
testing

2 Animal with a shell that has existed for milions of years

4 Type of platform where turtles might be injured when explosives
are used to remove it

° Used in a shrimp net so that turtles dontt get caught (3 words)

6 Favorite food of Kemp's ridleys

? Type of turtle tag that's placed inside the flipper (3 words)

8 Scientific name for the top shell of a turtle

10 Object that orbits the earth - used to track some sea turtles

11 The smallest sea turtle

13 The main nesting beach for Kemp's ridleys in Mexico (2 words)
15 Nickname for Passive Integrated Transponder tag (2 words)
16 Location of National Marine Fisheries Service Lab. in Texas
18 Hawksbills like to eat this animal

20 Sea turtle that is a vegetarian

22 Nickname for 4 DOWN


Sea Turtle Research at the National Marine Fisheries
Service Galveston, Texas Laboratory

There are 5 different kinds of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico:
the Loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, Green, Hawksbill and Leatherback.
They are all endangered or threatened because there are very
few of them left in the world. The biologists at the National Marine
Fisheries Service Galveston Laboratory study sea turtles in many
different ways in order to make sure that they survive.

Baby Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are raised at our lab from
the time that they hatch until they are one year old. We use them to
learn about different ways of tagging sea turtles. Turtles can live a
very long time (maybe up to a hundred years!) and can grow from the
size of a fifty cent piece to several hundreds of pounds. We are
testing different kinds of tags to see if they will last for the entire
lifetime of a turtle and to see if other people can recognize them. The
Kemp’s ridley hatchlings at our lab are tagged with four different
kinds of tags: 1) Flipper tag, 2) Living Tag, 3) Internal
Magnetic Tag and 4) Passive Integrated Transponder tag
(PIT tag for short). We release the Kemp’s ridley hatchlings back into
the Gulf of Mexico.

We raise hatchling loggerhead sea turtles at our laboratory
until they are 2 years old. Before they are released into the Gulf of
Mexico, they are used to test different models of Turtle Excluder
Devices (TEDs). ATED is an “escape hatch” that is sewn into the
net of a shrimp boats to make sure that turtles don’t get caught and
drown in the net. Even though sea turtles live in the ocean, they must

_ breathe air just like people. The Loggerheads are only tagged with
flipper tags and PIT tags. |

Some wild sea turtles (those not raised by our lab) are caught
and tagged with other kind of tags that allow us to follow their
movements in their natural habitat - the ocean! Radio tags make a
beeping sound that we can hear using a radio receiver and antenna.
We follow the sea turtles in a boat and record how long they stay
underwater. We can also track sea turtles from our lab without ever
going out on a boat. A satellite that orbits the earth from space picks
up the signal from this tag and sends information on the turtle’s
location to a computer. We can track sea turtles anywhere in the
world this way. We track sea turtles to learn more about their



TED Testing:

Ail shrimp boats in the United States are required by law to have TEDs in their nets.

New designs must be certified for approval. Hatchling loggerhead sea turtles are
raised for 2 years to be used in TED certification trials.

Lazy Line

TED (enlarged view) TED Opening



\

A fisherman has just ¥ ute)
designed a new type of | TED }

+ : ES
;, Opening 4

“Sy £
he. a
"bare sggett?

Turtle Excluder Device
(TED). He wants the
National Marine Fisheries
service to test it to see if
sea turtles can escape. He
also wants to Know if he
can still catch shrimp with
his net.

See if you can help
the turtle find its

_ way to the TED

opening. Can you
catch a shrimp in
the bag of the net
too?


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to extend special thanks to the following people who
assisted in the preparation and review of this booklet: Becky Benoit,
Austin Caldwell, Phil Caldwell, Debra Holmes, Maria Indelicato, Jim
Nance, Edie Schmidt and The University of Georgia Marine Extension
service and Roger Zimmerman.

We would like to acknowledge the following people for contributing
illustrations: Ben Higgins (map to lab) and The University of Georgia,
Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary and Karen Roeder for
illustrations of the various sea turtle species, the hatchling used to

demonstrate living tags and PIT tags and the shrimp boat with TED
insert.



Because Kemp's ridley sea turtles feed near shore, they are
often caught by fishermen. You should notify the National
Marine Fisheries Service if you catch a sea turtle on hook and
line. We will take the sea turtle to a veterinarian to remove the
hook. Special care must be taken to prevent injury. We will
tag the turtle and release it in the area where it was captured.

Tg
Jee

oh
re rr STTEL Uy

y


Sea Turtle Activity
and Coloring Book

Sea Turtle Research at the
NMFS Galveston Laboratory

Sea Turtle Education Program Supplement

Jo A. Williams and Andrea C. Cannon

U.S, Department of Commerce

‘National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Marine Fisheries Service

Southeast Fisheries Science Center
Galveston Laboratory
4700 Avenue U
Galveston, TX 77551-5997

October 1999



Word Search

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Can you find all the words in the list below? They can be found in strai

lines running forward, backward, up, down or diagonally.

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Living Tags:

Every year we place the living tag on a different scute (scale) on the shell.
The living tag will grow as the turtle grows leaving a permanent white spot on
the shell. See if you can identify which year class each of the turtles below
belongs to. .

Year Location of Living Ta
1982 Left Costal 3

1983 Left Costal 4

1984 Left Costal 5

1985 Right Costal 5

1986 Neural 4
1987 Right Costal 1
1988 Left Costal 1
1989 Right Costal 4
1990 Right Costal 2
1991 Left Costal 2
1992 Right Costal 3

(after 1992, locations are repeated. We
should be able to identify these turtles
from earlier year classes by a difference
in size.)



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