Summer Guests of Long Island: Celebrities, Weekenders and Endangered Sea Turtles

WT's Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Project
Studies "Sentinel Species"
by Christine Banks, Conservation Medicine Program Coordinator

Every summer, throngs of visitors descend upon the East End of Long Island in search of fun, sun and sand. There is little doubt that these travelers who clog the highways each weekend are unaware of other summer guests to the East End: endangered and threatened sea turtles. While the Peconic Bay provides a picturesque setting for celebs and paparazzi, these coastal waters also play a critical part in the development of many juvenile turtles, including the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) , the Kemp's ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) , the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).

"I'm amazed at how people within New York and other large cities have lost their relationship with nature and their surroundings," says Dr. Alonso Aguirre, Vice President for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust, and co-investigator on the Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Project. "Most New Yorkers don't realize the biodiversity that exists within the New York Bioscape, including the presence of sea turtles around Long Island that spend summers foraging and preparing to swim south again."

Juvenile sea turtles migrate each year from warm southern waters to northern latitudes. The turtles visiting Long Island begin to arrive in July and remain through early November, feeding on algae, crabs and mollusks in the rich benthic habitat of the Peconic Bay and Long Island Sound. These juvenile turtles will ultimately mate, nest and overwinter in southern and tropical regions.

All sea turtles are endangered on a worldwide scale; each country and U.S. state has its own individual listing. In New York and federally, Kemp's ridley and leatherback turtles are listed as endangered, and green and loggerheads are threatened. Thus, the habitat and feeding ground found in the Peconic Bay is extremely important to species recovery in general.

Wildlife Trust's Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Project

As part of Wildlife Trust's Conservation Medicine and New York Bioscape Initiative programs, the Peconic Bay Sea Turtle Project studies the behavioral ecology of juvenile turtles as a "sentinel species," which will provide an indicator of the health of the Peconic Bay ecosystem and its waters, those same waters where humans play and fish.

Why is it so important to evaluate the presence and health of sea turtles?

• The waters of the Peconic Bay are subject to environmental degradation from threats such as groundwater contamination, recreational boating, noise pollution, and spills and accidents from commercial development. Development is increasing in the areas surrounding the bay, so this study is important in learning how sea turtle health changes in response to environmental changes.
• Northeastern coastal waters can provide valuable information for monitoring and estimating general patterns of sea turtle abundance, health and species status.
• Assessing the status of sea turtles in this area provides a glimpse of the effectiveness of management practices placed into effect over the last 10-20 years, as sea turtles that were protected as hatchlings and juveniles have reached breeding age, and their offspring are making the trek to the Northeast. Much effort has been placed into restoring the number of turtles in the Atlantic, including restrictions on shrimp trawling, regulations on gill nets, and the introduction and enforcement of the use of TEDs (turtle excluder devices) in nets. Some of these regulations have been controversial to fisheries and may have economic impacts, so it is critical that we monitor for effectiveness.

Over the next few years, project collaborators plan to continue monitoring the health status of sea turtles in these nearshore waters, and to establish a long-term monitoring site to gather information on the turtles, their food and habitat, and any disturbances that may arise. It is extremely valuable to have baseline data before a disturbance occurs, and to have an area as an index site to gauge population trends in the Western North Atlantic Ocean.